Doctors and Companions Watch Doctor Who
by Bluer Than The TARDIS
Summary: It's time for another one of these "characters watching the show" fanfictions. I hope you'll enjoy this long-as-heck story, because I actually plan to finish this. Well, not "finish" it, really, because there's always going to be new episodes (let's hope), but, you know, I plan to keep doing it. Yes, I really mean that. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. We All Come Together

**I know, I know. I haven't updated my other story in months and then I come out with a new one. But I've been really busy the past months and I'm dying for something new. So, why not give this a shot. Besides, you can never have too many "watching the show" fanfictions. I swear I'll continue updating my other fanfiction. Onward!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Literally nothing. Not even the idea for this fanfiction is mine.**

It took weeks, but finally Rose was able to adjust to her life in the parallel universe. Her new job at Torchwood helped lots with keeping her mind off of the most pressing matter-the Doctor and her's conversation at Bad Wolf Bay about how she was stranded in Pete's World.

There were days, of course, where she was unable to keep her mind off of such matters, and her mind would replay the conversation in her head-skipping around certain bits here and there, like a broken record.

Today was one of those days.

In all honesty, she should have been paying more attention to the road, considering she was driving a car, but she managed to avoid any accidents just fine.

She was replaying in her head the part where she told the Doctor her mum was pregnant with another little Tyler, when she was enveloped in a bright light.

The driverless car continued speeding down the road and crashed.

Martha and Mickey were doing just fine without the Doctor. Married, freelancing, and kicking alien butt. Oh yeah, they were definitely more than alright.

More than alright enough to be sitting at home and eating dinner while joking/competing about who knocked out that final Sontaran.

Mickey was halfway through his comment about him having shot first when a bright light took both of them away, leaving their silverware clattering onto the table.

The Tenth Doctor and Donna were wading their way through a marketplace somewhere in Shan Shen.

Haggling and trying out new things, they were as happy as could be.

That is, until the same brilliant light took them away.

Onlookers simply shook their heads. Didn't travelers know how dangerous it was to use teleportation devices in the middle of a crowd? Seriously.

The Ninth Doctor had just lied to Rose, telling her that he was simply stepping out for a bit of fresh air, no more. Of course, he had also given her her own TARDIS key to give strength to the lie.

He had just dematerialized his TARDIS when a light overtook him and he vanished. The TARDIS was left momentarily without a pilot for a split second in time.

The Eleventh Doctor was just sprayed with a water gun then invited to Christmas Dinner. More or less, he was a bit surprised to see he didn't get punched in the face. Or at least yelled at.

But the Ponds were too happy to see him for that. They were simply glad he had his head on straight enough and came to see them. After all, they would always set a place for him, and it'd be a shame to waste those dishes.

Yet as soon as the Doctor closed the door to the Ponds' house, the three of them were taken by the, by now, familiar white light.

River Song could be found in the Library, would anyone have bothered to check in with her. She knew better than to expect the Doctor.

There were times, casual and not-so-casual times, where she was invited for tea with Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint. Those days were few and far in-between, for she knew the Paternosters tended to be busy with their cases.

If the right person were to ask, she might even admit to being jealous of the group. Out they went, saving the day and fighting monsters. And sometimes, if they were lucky, encountering the Doctor doing the same. Because while her life in the database of the Library was happy, it could never be enough for River Song.

And so she waited, and waited, for something less...mundane to begin.

She got her wish in the form of a peculiar white light.

Captain Jack Harkness. Honestly, can we skip over this bit?

He was taken from some place rather...indecent.

There. Done. We're done.

Almost done.

A man with a guitar, a woman with a broken heart, a police box and a diner.

Clara and the Twelfth Doctor are farther apart than they ever have been, yet for the split second that they are taken away, they're closer than ever.

The thirteen people listed above were dumped into a room.

Chaos ensued.

There was a clamor of "who are you"s and "how did we get here"s and a few "wait a second"s.

Rose and Ten had caught each other's eyes.

"Rose..." Ten mumbled, mainly as a reassurance to himself that she was actually there. Before he knew it, Rose had run up to him and wrapped her arms around him. Without thinking he did the same.

Rose and Ten stayed like that for a few seconds, but were startled apart by a shout of "would everyone please SHUT UP" from the Twelfth Doctor.

Clara sharply inhaled some air. She knew that attitude anywhere.

"Thank you," Twelve breathed as everyone quieted down and looked at the man speaking. "Now, seeing as I'm the only one who knows who everyone here is, I'd say that puts me in charge."

This only brought out another bout of outrage.

"Excuse me?"

"Who are you to be deciding what's what and who's who?"

"If anyone's in charge it should be me."

"Hold up a second."

"Oh, will everyone just quiet down?!" Clara yelled before switching to a more calm (albeit not less exasperated) tone. "Listen, we need to sort things out here and arguing like a bunch of toddlers isn't going to help anyone! Now, if there's one thing I've noticed about all of us here, it's that we all know the Doctor-or at least a Doctor-correct?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

"The little lady over there is right," this came from Ten, "whatever's going on here, it's got something to do with me."

"You?" Amy inquired. "But he's the Doctor," she said, pointing to the man in the bowtie and tweed jacket who was currently jumping on one of the couches in the room.

"Have you got your head on straight?" asked Nine, "as if I'd ever wear that." He looked at Eleven with distaste.

"Oh, believe me," Twelve muttered, "I wish I could go back in time and change my fashion sense."

"Yeah," River jumped in. "Hate to break it to you, but you, you, you, and you are all the same man," she said, pointing to each of the four Doctors in the room.

"And what's your name?" Nine asked.

"River Song. Lovely to meet this regeneration."

"River Song," Nine tried out her name, "lovely name, River Song. Tell you what, how 'bout we all go round and do introductions."

"Are you kidding?" Twelve asked. "This isn't preschool."

"Are you sure, because you seem to need some discipline."

"As a teacher," Clara grumbled, then whispered the next part under her breath, "and his latest companion," then returned to grumbling, "I can highly respect that."

"Right, then. I'm the ninth regeneration of the Doctor." Nine went first, then gestured at Rose for her to go next.

"Okay, I'm Rose Tyler. I traveled with him," she gestured to Nine, "and him," she gestured to Ten.

"Past tense?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm the tenth regeneration of the Doctor." Ten cut in quickly.

"I'm Martha, and this-"

"-is her husband, Mickey, who can introduce himself. I traveled with sassy and pinstripes over there-"

"-and I only traveled with pinstripes."

"My name's Donna Noble and I'm traveling with, erm, pinstripes." She flashed a cheeky grin at Ten who sighed.

"Hi everyone. I'm Amy Pond, this is my husband Rory, and we're traveling with the bow-tie-wearing dork over there." She jerked her head towards Eleven, who was trying to do a handstand on the couches.

Eleven had managed to get himself up in the air, but hadn't really stopped once he was there and continued to fall onto the floor. He bounced back up within a second and introduced himself with his hands flapping all about.

"Hello there! I'm the eleventh Doctor! These are the ponds," he threw his arms over said people's shoulders before taking them off as quickly as he had put them on, "that's River Song-"

"-okay, sweetie, you can stop now."

"Right, sorry." Eleven adjusted his clothes and his hair, feeling a bit embarrassed at how he still wasn't within the social norms.

Other companions looked at Eleven oddly while the other Doctors looked at him incredulously.

"Looks like it's my turn," our favorite captain said. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness and I've traveled with Nine and Ten."

"Right," Twelve muttered, wanting to get all this over with. "I'm the twelfth regeneration of the Doctor-"

"What?!"

"No!"

"That's impossible!"

"Yes, yes, I know," Twelve said, exasperated and a tad sarcastic, "completely impossible. But alas," he spread his arms out. "Here I am. And last but not least, this shortie here is Clara Oswald."

Clara sharply turned her head in surprise and looked up at Twelve in shock. "You remember?"

"Yes, although just a few minutes ago I didn't. I believe that whatever brought us here also removed the neural block."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Clara asked, hopeful.

"Clara-"

"I mean, it's got to be good. Maybe whoever brought us here knows some way around it."

"Clara-"

"Maybe they can fix this."

"Clara!"

"What?!"

"There is no way around this!" Twelve said this as gentle as he could while still getting his point across.

The other companions and Doctors looked on curiously yet respectfully. What was going on with these two?

Twelve continued. "If they have the power to remove the neural block, they probably have the power to put it back on."

Clara turned away from her Doctor.

"I'm sorry." He said.

When she didn't answer, he decided it was time to get back to business. "Right let's see what we've got here."

"A television," Nine said.

"Comfy couches," Eleven said.

"And nothing else," Ten said.

"I'd say we're here to watch something," Eleven concluded.

"And we're probably not leaving until we do." Mickey said, making his way over to one of the couches, Martha following him.

"Come on, then." Captain Jack sat down next to "Mickey Mouse."

Everyone sat down and the order of people on couches ended up being like this:

 **Nine, Rose, Ten, Donna**

 **Martha, Mickey, Captain Jack**

 **Amy, Rory, River, Eleven**

 **Clara, Twelve**

As soon as they all sat down, the TV screen lit up.

 **Welp, there we have it. Chapter one is done. I hope you all will enjoy this fanfiction, and if you have any problem with how the characters are acting, or even simply think that they wouldn't act that way, please feel free to tell me. I aim to improve and please. I'll have the next chapter up shortly.**


	2. Rose

**I told you chapter 2 would be up soon.**

 **Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters belong to the BBC. I just take them for test drives every now and then.**

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

"Hang on," Jack said, "is that the time vortex?"

"Oh my God-" Rory added "-that's the TARDIS."

"What's with the weird, alien-ish noises?" Amy inquired.

" **DOCTOR WHO"**

"Doctor Who? Oh, please don't tell me this is about me." Ten half-whined.

" **ROSE"**

"Why does it say my name? Guys, why does it say my name?" Rose asked twice, feeling a little uncomfortable.

 **EXT. SPACE**

 _ **Camera pans from the moon to Earth, then zooms into London, then Rose's alarm clock, which begins to go off.**_

 **INT. ROSE'S FLAT**

 _ **Rose smacks her alarm clock and gets out of bed.**_

"Nice bedhead." Jack says cheekily.

"Why are we watching Rose?" Nine decided to move onto more important topics.

"Beats me." Rose said.

 _ **We next see Rose, dressed, kiss her mum goodbye and grab her keys.**_

 **ROSE: Bye!**

 **JACKIE: See you later!**

 _ **Rose exits her flat and takes a bus to her workplace.**_

 **INT. HENRICKS**

"Is that Henricks?" Martha asked.

"I thought that place blew up." Donna added.

"This must be before then." Mickey decided.

The Doctors felt the corners of their mouths upturn a little, otherwise keeping a straight face. Clara and River noticed this in their Doctors and began to grow suspicious.

 **EXT. TRAFALGAR SQUARE**

 _ **Rose has a playful lunch with her boyfriend Mickey.**_

Martha looks on curiously, not having known that her husband and Rose used to be in a relationship.

 **INT. HENRICKS**

 _ **As Rose is leaving, a guard waves a plastic bag in Rose's face.**_

Amy huffed, "rude."

Rose narrowed her eyes, remembering what day this was showing.

 _ **Rose gets into an lift, then exits in the basement.**_

 **ROSE: Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson, you there? Look, I can't hang about 'cos they're closing the shop. Wilson! Oh, come on.**

Rose looked on in pity; not for her former self, but for Wilson. He had always been a nice guy.

Everyone else was beginning to get tense. They doubted whoever brought them here brought them to watch Rose's everyday life. No, something dangerous was about to happen. They could feel it.

 _ **Something down the hallway clatters.**_

 **ROSE: Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose. Hello? Wilson?**

 _ **Rose opens the door to a store room and turns the lights on.**_

 **ROSE: Wilson? Wilson!**

 _ **She walks further into the room, and the door slams behind her. She runs back and tries to open the door but it doesn't budge.**_

 **ROSE: You're kidding me.**

 _ **There are more noises behind her.**_

 **ROSE: Is that someone mucking about? Who is it?**

 _ **A male shop dummy begins to approach her.**_

"Autons!" River whispered.

"Rose, I don't think that's someone mucking about," Ten told her.

"Really?" Rose asked sarcastically. "You could've fooled me!"

 **ROSE: Yeah, you got me. Very funny.**

 _ **More autons begin to move.**_

 **ROSE: Right, I've got the joke. Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?**

"This Derek must be a real troublemaker. I'd like to meet him." Jack announced.

"Please, God, no." Rose murmured, the thought of a Derek and Captain Jack Harkness team-up haunting her mind.

 _ **More autons start to move and Rose backs away from them. They have her up against the wall and the lead auton raises its arm. Rose closes her eyes, looking away.**_

"Ah, yes, I can see it now," Rose joked, "'Rose Tyler, Cause of Death: Shop Dummies."

Only Nine reacted, spewing out some muffled laughter.

 _ **A man grabs Rose by the hand. Rose looks up to see who it is. It is the Doctor.**_

 **DOCTOR: Run.**

"Finally, it's getting interesting," Nine teased.

"Oh, shut up, you." Rose lightly slapped Nine on the arm.

Ten looked on at this exchange, smiling softly.

 _ **The Doctor pulls Rose away as the auton brings it's arm down and breaks the metal pipe Rose was standing in front of. They run through a set of double doors with the autons on their tails. Running through another set of double doors and into a lift, the Doctor pushes the "up" button. One auton manages to get its hand through, but after a few tugs, the Doctor pulls it's arm off.**_

 **INT. LIFT**

 **ROSE: You pulled his arm off.**

 **DOCTOR: Yep. Plastic.**

 **ROSE: Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they, then? Students? Is this a student thing?**

 **DOCTOR: Why would they be students?**

 **ROSE: I don't know.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, you said it. Why students?**

"There's the Doctor," Mickey laughed, "always testing us."

Other companions joined in with some small laughs or smiles.

The Doctors frowned. Was that really how others saw it? As a test?

 **ROSE: 'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students.**

 _ **The Doctor smiles at her.**_

 **DOCTOR: That makes sense. Well done.**

River arched her eyebrows in surprise. "That was quick." She leaned forward and turned her head to explain further to Rose, who was looking back. "You've impressed him already."

 **ROSE: Thanks.**

 **DOCTOR: They're not students.**

"That was quick, too." Clara interjected.

 **ROSE: Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police.**

 **DOCTOR: Who's Wilson?**

 **ROSE: Cheif electrician.**

 **DOCTOR: Wilson's dead.**

"Way to break it to her!" Clara, who had spoken, harshly elbowed Twelve as the other companions inflicted bodily harm on their Doctors as well.

"Hey!"

"Don't act like you don't deserve it."

 **INT. HENRICKS CORRIDOR**

 **ROSE: That's not funny. That's sick!**

 **DOCTOR: Hold on. Mind your eyes.**

 **ROSE: I've had enough of this now.**

"I can't believe I said that." Rose laughed.

"Why?" Rory asked.

"I was barely getting started."

 _ **The Doctor disables the lift with his sonic screwdriver.**_

 **ROSE: Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?**

"Persistent. Good for you." Donna said.

 **DOCTOR: They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a big problem if I didn't have this.**

 _ **He holds up a small bomb.**_

"I thought you didn't like using weapons?" Martha asked Ten.

"This regeneration was a little more...lenient." He replied.

 **DOCTOR: So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast.**

"Beans on toast?"

 **DOCTOR: Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed.**

 _ **The Doctor shuts the door behind Rose, before opening it again.**_

 **DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?**

 **ROSE: Rose.**

 **DOCTOR: Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!**

"What a nice first impression." Jack said.

 **EXT. STREET**

 _ **Rose does just that, nearly getting run over by a car in the process.**_

"Be careful!" Nearly everyone in the room shouts this out at on-screen Rose.

 _ **Rose looks back as a loud explosion can be heard from Henricks being blown up. After it dies down, she continues running, passing a blue police box.**_

"Ahhh. Home sweet home." Eleven says.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 _ **The scene cuts to a television screen showing the news. It says "DEPARTMENT STORE BLAZE" as the heading.**_

 **REPORTER: The whole of central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire.**

 _ **Jackie is on the phone.**_

 **JACKIE: I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now, you'd think I was her daughter. Oh, and here's himself.**

 _ **Mickey enters.**_

"There's the Jackie I know." Ten sighs.

 **MICKEY: I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead! It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!**

 **ROSE: I'm all right, honestly. I'm fine! Don't make a fuss.**

 **MICKEY: Well, what happened?**

 **ROSE: I don't know.**

 **MICKEY: What was it? What caused it?**

 **ROSE: I wasn't in the shop. I was outside. I didn't see anything.**

"Liar, liar-" Jack began, but Rose threw a pillow at him.

 **JACKIE: It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview.**

 **ROSE: Oh, that's brilliant. Give it here.**

 _ **Rose takes the phone and hangs it up.**_

 **JACKIE: Well you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out.**

 _ **The telephone rings again and Jackie answers it.**_

 **JACKIE: Bev! She's alive. I told her, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death.**

"Is your mum always like this?" Amy asked Rose.

" _Always_."

 **MICKEY: What're you drinking, tea? Nah, nah. That's no good, that's no good. You're in shock. You need something stronger.**

 **ROSE: I'm all right.**

 **MICKEY: Now, come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat, how about it?**

 **ROSE: Is there a match on?**

"Is there a match on?" Martha asked at the same time as on-screen Rose.

"That still happens?" Rose asked Martha, grinning.

"All the time." Martha stressed each word.

Mickey seemed to sink into the couch.

 **MICKEY: No, I'm just thinking about you, babe.**

 **ROSE: There's a match on, ain't there?**

 **MICKEY: That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes.**

 **ROSE: Go on, then. I'm fine, really. Go. Get rid of that.**

 _ **Rose points to the plastic arm.**_

"You brought it home?" Jack asks.

"I was a bit too distracted to throw it out." Rose defended.

 _ **Rose and Mickey share a quick kiss, then Mickey picks up the plastic arm. He waves with it.**_

 **MICKEY: Buh-bye!**

 **ROSE: Bye!**

 _ **Mickey pretends to be strangled by the arm, then exits.**_

 **REPORTER: -fire then spread throughout the store. Fifteen fire crews are in attendance though it's thought there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure.**

 **EXT. STREET**

 _ **Mickey, whistling, throws the plastic arm into a bin. The camera zooms in on the rubbish bin, then switches to Rose's alarm clock, beeping. Rose turns it off and sits up.**_

 **INT. ROSE'S BEDROOM**

 **JACKIE [OC]: There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to.**

 _ **Rose collapses back in bed.**_

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs.**

 **ROSE: Oh, great. The butcher's.**

 **JACKIE: Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the counter said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim.**

 _ **Something rattles at the door.**_

 **ROSE: Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays.**

 _ **Rose walks over to the door.**_

 **JACKIE [OC]: I did it weeks back!**

 **ROSE: No, you thought about it.**

 _ **The cat flaps screws are on the floor and the cat flap moves. Rose pokes it outwards and the Doctor's face can be seen. Rose opens the door.**_

"How the hell did you find her?" Jack asked the Doctor.

"Well, I wasn't looking for her." Nine answered.

"Then what were you looking for?" Amy asked.

"You'll see." Ten said, nodding at the screen.

 **DOCTOR: What're you doing here?**

 **ROSE: I live here.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, what do you do that for?**

 **ROSE: Because I do. I'm only at home because someone blew up my job.**

 _ **The Doctor holds up his sonic screwdriver.**_

 **DOCTOR: I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?**

 _ **He knocks on Rose's forehead.**_

 **DOCTOR: Nope. Bonehead. Bye, then.**

Clara scoffed and told Twelve, "your ninth regeneration is almost as rude as this one."

"Well at least _I_ have been improving." Twelve shot back in an attempt to redeem his current regeneration.

Clara smiled a little at him. "Yes, at least that's true."

 **ROSE: You. Inside. Right now.**

 _ **She pulls the Doctor inside.**_

 **JACKIE [OC]: Who is it?**

 **INT. JACKIE'S BEDROOM**

 _ **Jackie is putting on her makeup.**_

 **ROSE: It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us...ten minutes.**

 **JACKIE: She deserves compensation.**

 _ **The Doctor is standing in the doorway.**_

 **DOCTOR: Oh, we're talking millions.**

 _ **Jackie stands up flirtatiously.**_

"Oh my God, she didn't," Rose moaned.

"She...kind of did." Ten scratched at the back of his neck.

Everyone bar the Doctors and Rose had to hold in their laughter.

 **JACKIE: I'm in my dressing gown.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, you are.**

 **JACKIE: There's a strange man in my bedroom.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, there is.**

 **JACKIE: Well, anything could happen.**

 **DOCTOR: No.**

 _ **The Doctor leaves to find Rose in the kitchen and Jackie makes a face at his back.**_

Everyone who had been holding back their laughter let loose at this point.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: Don't mind the mess. You want a coffee?**

 **DOCTOR: Might as well, thanks. Just milk.**

 **ROSE: We should go to the police. Seriously, both of us.**

 _ **The Doctor looks at the copy of Heat sitting on the coffee table.**_

 **DOCTOR: That won't last. He's gay and she's an alien.**

"Who?"

"How do you know that?"

"Erm, nobody. Don't mind that." Eleven answered the questions being thrown his way.

 **ROSE: I'm not blaming you. Even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong.**

 _ **The Doctor flicks through an entire paperback.**_

 **DOCTOR: Hmm...sad ending.**

"You can read that fast?" It was Amy who spoke.

 **ROSE: They said on the news they'd found a body.**

 **DOCTOR: Rose Tyler.**

 _ **The Doctor catches sight of himself in the mirror.**_

 **DOCTOR: Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears!**

"That was the first time you saw yourself?" Rose asked Nine.

"Yup." He replied, popping the "p."

 **ROSE: All the same. He was nice, nice bloke.**

 _ **The Doctor tries to shuffle a pack of cards.**_

 **DOCTOR: Luck be a lady.**

 **ROSE: Anyway, if we are going to the police, I want to know what I'm saying.**

 _ **The pack of cards goes flying everywhere.**_

 **ROSE: I want you to explain everything.**

 **DOCTOR: Maybe not.**

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Rose asked.

"Of course I am. I've got Time Lord hearing. I'm just deciding to ignore everything you're saying." Nine told her.

Rose huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at the screen.

 _ **The cat flap rattles.**_

 **DOCTOR: What's that, then? You got a cat?**

 **ROSE: No.**

 _ **The Doctor goes to investigate and the plastic arm from earlier grabs hold of the Doctor's throat. Rose, oblivious, keeps talking.**_

 **ROSE: We did have, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate.**

"Are you even noticing me?" Nine asked.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm just deciding to ignore whatever you're doing." Rose teased.

Nine scolded her. "Rose Tyler, you are cold."

 _ **Rose brings out the two mugs of coffee, the Doctor still being strangled.**_

 **ROSE: I told Mickey to chuck that out. You're all the same, give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even know your name. Doctor...what was it?**

"Do you really not notice that I am actually being strangled there?" Ten asked.

"I was having a long two days, all right?" Rose defended herself.

 _ **The Doctor manages to throw the arm off of his throat. The arm stops in mid-air, then grabs hold of Rose's face. The Doctor tries to pull it off, instead pulling Rose towards him and making both of them fall onto the coffee table, which smashes into pieces. Jackie is in her room, drying her hair, and doesn't hear anything.**_

"Ah, I see. It runs in the family." Twelve remarks.

"What does?" Rose asks.

"The obliviousness." Nine answered for Twelve.

The two Doctors each got smacked with pillows by their respective companions.

 _ **The Doctor pulls the arm off of Rose's face and finds the right setting on his sonic screwdriver. He pushes the sonic into the hand, and the hand deactivates.**_

 **DOCTOR: It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, see? 'Armless.**

"Really?" Rory asked, unamused.

 **ROSE: You think?**

 _ **She smacks him with the arm.**_

 **DOCTOR: Ow!**

Everyone laughed.

 **INT. STAIRCASE**

 **ROSE: Hold on a minute. You can't just go swanning off.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you.**

 **ROSE: But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me.**

 **DOCTOR: Ten out of ten for observation.**

 **ROSE: You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on.**

 **DOCTOR: No, I don't.**

River began talking. "He's probably just trying to keep you out of danger."

Rose stared at the screen. She hadn't really ever thought of it that way.

 **EXT. SIDEWALK**

 **ROSE: All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone.**

"Most likely, you're going to get put in a mental facility if you do that." Jack said.

 **ROSE: You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking.**

Clara narrowed her eyes at Rose. "You wouldn't really have, would you?"

Rose sheepishly sank into the pillows behind her. "Probably not."

 **DOCTOR: Is that supposed to sound tough?**

 **ROSE: Sort of.**

 **DOCTOR: Doesn't work.**

 **ROSE: Who are you?**

 **DOCTOR: Told you. The Doctor.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, but Doctor what?**

 **DOCTOR: Just the Doctor.**

"Just the Doctor." Everyone said at the same time as the on-screen Doctor.

 **ROSE: The Doctor.**

 **DOCTOR: Hello!**

 **ROSE: Is that supposed to sound impressive?**

 **DOCTOR: Sort of.**

"Doesn't work." Jack told the four Doctors, who all scowled.

 **ROSE: Come on, then. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?**

 **DOCTOR: No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home.**

Three of the Doctor's faces sombered.

 **ROSE: But what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you.**

"To be fair, those plastic things do keep coming after her." Rory said.

 **DOCTOR: You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all.**

 **ROSE: It tried to kill me.**

 **DOCTOR: It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me.**

 **ROSE: So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you.**

 **DOCTOR: Sort of, yeah.**

 **ROSE: You're full of it.**

 **DOCTOR: Sort of, yeah.**

 **ROSE: But all this plastic stuff, who knows about it?**

 **DOCTOR: No one.**

 **ROSE: What, you're on your own?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on.**

 **ROSE: Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?**

 **DOCTOR: The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead.**

 **ROSE: So that's radio control?**

 **DOCTOR: Thought control. Are you all right?**

 **ROSE: Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?**

 **DOCTOR: Long story.**

 **ROSE: But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?**

"Honestly," Amy said, "could you imagine that?"

"It'd be ridiculous." Martha agreed. "Why would anyone want to take over the shops, of all things?"

 **DOCTOR: No.**

 **ROSE: No.**

 **DOCTOR: It's not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you.**

"That got really dark, really quickly." Amy said, blunt.

 **DOCTOR: Do you believe me?**

"I wouldn't at that point."

"Me neither."

 **ROSE: No.**

 **DOCTOR: But you're still listening.**

"Weird, isn't it?" Twelve remarked.

 **ROSE: Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?**

 **DOCTOR: Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go. That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home.**

 _ **He waves the plastic arm at her.**_

"You expect her to forget you after all that?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"Honestly, not really. But I was kind of hoping." Eleven said.

"Well thank God that didn't happen, right?" Rose said, smiling at each of her Doctors.

"Right." They both replied.

 _ **The Doctor walks off to the TARDIS. Rose walks back towards the block of flats when there is a strange wheezing and groaning noise. She runs back to where the Doctor was only to find the blue police box is gone.**_

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: Hey, hey! Here's my woman. Kit off.**

"Mickey! Didn't know you had it in you." Jack cheekily flashed a grin a Mickey, who rolled his eyes.

 **ROSE: Shut up.**

 **MICKEY: Coffee?**

 **ROSE: Yeah. Only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?**

 **MICKEY: Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom. Don't read my emails!**

"What's on your emails, Mick?" Jack asked, loving to tease Mickey.

"Nothing you need to know about." Mickey grumbled.

 _ **Rose searches for results for "doctor", 17,700,000 results. "Doctor living plastic", 55,300. "Doctor blue box", 493. The top one says "Doctor Who? Do you know this man? Contact Clive here." Rose clicks on the site and there is a fuzzy picture of the Doctor.**_

"Seems like you've attracted some unwanted attention." River tells her husband.

"Yeah, it seems pretty impossible not to." He replied.

 **EXT. CLIVE'S STREET**

 _ **A yellow car pulls up to a house.**_

 **ROSE: You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids.**

 **MICKEY: Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly the kind of thing an internet lunatic murderer would say.**

"He's got a point, Rosie." Jack said.

 _ **Rose knocks on Clive's door. A boy answers it.**_

 **ROSE: Hello, I've come to see Clive? We've been emailing.**

 **BOY: Dad! It's one of your nutters.**

 _ **Clive comes to the door.**_

 **CLIVE: Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose. I'm Clive, obviously.**

 **ROSE: I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me.**

"Always nice to warn the murderers beforehand." Nine jokingly said.

 **CLIVE: No, good point. No murders.**

 _ **Clive waves at Mickey.**_

 **CAROLINE [OC]: Who is it?**

 **CLIVE: Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website. Please, come through. I'm in the shed.**

 **CAROLINE: She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?**

"Well, that sure says a lot about you, huh Doc?" Mickey joked to get on the Doctor's nerves. It worked.

 **INT. CLIVE'S SHED**

 **CLIVE: A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Doctor. Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?**

 **ROSE: Yeah.**

 **CLIVE: I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original**

 _ **There is a picture of Kennedy's cortege going through Dallas. The Doctor is there.**_

 **CLIVE: November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?**

 **ROSE: It must be his father.**

"Nope," Nine said. "Still plain, old me."

 **CLIVE: Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And here we are. 1883. Another Doctor. (a sketch) And look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion.**

His companions smiled...

 **ROSE: Who's that?**

 **CLIVE: Death.**

...then frowned.

 **EXT. CLIVE'S STREET**

 _ **In the street, the bin moves closer to Mickey's car.**_

"Uh-oh."

 **INT. CLIVE'S SHED**

 **CLIVE: If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger.**

 **EXT. CLIVE'S STREET**

 _ **Mickey sees the bin move and gets out of his car. He goes to the bin and lifts up the lid.**_

 **MICKEY: Come on, then.**

 **INT. CLIVE'S SHED**

 **CLIVE: If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you.**

"Are you serious?" Nine asked. "How dangerous can me making house calls be?"

His future regenerations frowned at the ignorance of their younger self. Obviously he hadn't seen what simply him interacting with people could cause yet.

 **EXT. CLIVE'S STREET**

 _ **Mickey shuts the bin lid and tries to walk away, only to find that he is stuck to the plastic. It stretches as he pulls at it. The bin growls and moves, pulling Mickey inside of it.**_

Rose gasps and an "oh dear" can be heard.

What the hell just happened to Mickey?

 **INT. CLIVE'S SHED**

 **ROSE: But who is he? Who do you think he is?**

 **CLIVE: I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world.**

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" Eleven acted out.

"That's actually the closest anyone's gotten…" Twelve thought out loud.

 **EXT. CLIVE'S STREET**

 _ **Rose returns to the car. An obviously plastic Mickey is sitting behind the steering wheel.**_

 **ROSE: All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win! What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza.**

 **MICKEY: Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!**

"Did you really not notice I was plastic?" Mickey asked Rose.

"Three words: Long two days." Rose emphasized each word.

 **ROSE: Or Chinese.**

 **MICKEY: Pizza!**

 _ **Plastic Mickey drives horribly off down the road.**_

"Seriously, how could you not have known?"

 **INT. RESTAURANT**

 _ **Rose is still oblivious to the fact that Mickey has shiny skin and a fixed grin on his face.**_

 **ROSE: Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips. I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up. What do you think?**

 **MICKEY: So, where did you meet this Doctor?**

 **ROSE: I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?**

"A little bit self-centered, are we?" Jack asked Rose.

"Oh, shut up."

 **MICKEY: Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?**

 **ROSE: No.**

 **MICKEY: Come on.**

 **ROSE: Sort of.**

 **MICKEY: What was he doing there?**

 **ROSE: I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous.**

 **MICKEY: But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart.**

 **ROSE: What're you doing that for?**

"Maybe because I'm actually a living plastic thing."

"Would you stop with that?"

 **WAITER: Your champagne.**

River narrowed her eyes. That waiter sounded awfully familiar.

 **MICKEY: We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?**

 **WAITER: Madam, your champagne.**

 **ROSE: It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?**

 **MICKEY: I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?**

 **WAITER: Doesn't anybody want this champagne?**

"Persistent, isn't he?"

 **MICKEY: Look, we didn't order it.**

 _ **Plastic Mickey looks up to see that the waiter is the Doctor.**_

 **MICKEY: Ah. Gotcha.**

 _ **The Doctor starts shaking the bottle vigorously.**_

 **DOCTOR: Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!**

 _ **The Doctor releases the cage around the cork and it flies into Plastic Mickey's forehead. Eventually, he spits it out.**_

The companions look on, a bit weirded out and wondering what other freakish things this plastic Mickey could do.

 **MICKEY: Anyway.**

 _ **Plastic Mickey gets up and turns his hand into a chopper. Rose flees, screaming, as Mickey wrecks the table. The Doctor grabs the Auton and pull off its head. The rest of the customers scream.**_

Ah. Those freakish things.

 **MICKEY: Don't think that's going to stop me.**

 _ **The body gets up and starts flailing around. Rose sets off the fire alarm.**_

 **ROSE: Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!**

"Smart thinking." River complimented.

 _ **Rose and the Doctor run through the kitchens carrying the head, while the body wrecks the restaurant before following them to the back exit.**_

 **EXT. RESTAURANT**

 _ **The Doctor seals the exit shut while Rose runs down the alley, past the TARDIS. The end is secured by padlocked gates.**_

 **ROSE: Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!**

Twelve scoffed. "Don't call my sonic screwdriver a _tube thing._ "

Clara looked at him, disappointed. "You don't even have one anymore," she whispered to him.

"Actually, I just got a new one." He rubbed in her face.

 **DOCTOR: Sonic screwdriver.**

 **ROSE: Use it!**

 **DOCTOR: Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here.**

 _ **The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and goes inside while the Auton hammers on the metal door, making large dents.**_

 **ROSE: You can't hide inside a wooden box. It's going to get us! Doctor!**

"Ooh, here it comes." Jack squealed, getting more comfortable in the couch. "Rosie's first reaction to the TARDIS!"

 _ **Rose tries the gate again-**_

"Come on, just get in the TARDIS…" Eleven mumbled.

 _ **-then runs inside the TARDIS. She stops, takes one look and runs outside again.**_

Captain Jack can't help but burst out laughing at poor Rose.

 _ **A siren is wailing in the distance. She runs around the TARDIS, but when the Auton finally smashes through the metal door, she makes up her mind.**_

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **ROSE: It's going to follow us!**

 **DOCTOR: The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute.**

"Blimey, you're rude." Donna mumbled.

"Yes, I believe we've covered that bit." Nine said.

 **DOCTOR: You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right. Where do you want to start?**

 **ROSE: Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?**

"Of course. Always go with the classic." Twelve said, grinning.

 **DOCTOR: Yes.**

 **ROSE: It's alien.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

 **ROSE: Are you alien?**

 **DOCTOR: Yes. Is that all right?**

 **ROSE: Yeah.**

"You're taking all this rather well." River's voice was nothing if not surprised.

 **DOCTOR: It's called the Tardis, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space.**

 _ **Rose begins crying.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us.**

 **ROSE: Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?**

 **DOCTOR: Oh. I didn't think of that.**

"Wow, thanks." Mickey said.

"Quiet, Rickey."

"Mickey."

"Sure." Nine dragged.

 **ROSE: He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?**

 **DOCTOR: Melt?**

 _ **The plastic head is melting on the console, where it is attached by cables.**_

 **DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, no, no, no!**

"Oh, so now you're worried!" Mickey said.

 **The Doctor sets the Tardis in motion.**

 **ROSE: What're you doing?**

 **DOCTOR: Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!**

 **The Tardis lands and the Doctor runs for the door.**

 **ROSE: You can't go out there. It's not safe.**

 **WESTMINSTER**

 **DOCTOR: I lost the signal, I got so close.**

 **ROSE: We've moved. Does it fly?**

 **DOCTOR: Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand.**

"Seeing as she's understood everything you've thrown at her so far, I'd say she could handle the dematerialization and materialization circuits of the TARDIS." River defended Rose, who smiled at her.

It was nice to know that other companions had your back.

 **ROSE: If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the**

 **loose.**

 **DOCTOR: It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?**

"Really rude." Donna said again.

 **ROSE: I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien.**

"Really?" Nine asked. " _That's_ what makes you believe I'm an alien?"

 **DOCTOR: Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-**

 **ROSE: Yeah, he's not a kid.**

 **DOCTOR: -It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?**

 **ROSE: All right.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, it is!**

 **ROSE: If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?**

"Really desperate to break the tension, are we?" Jack said.

 **DOCTOR: Lots of planets have a north.**

 **ROSE: What's a police public call box?**

 **DOCTOR: It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise.**

 **ROSE: Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?**

 **DOCTOR: Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke**

 **and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!**

"How come you smile when you say that?"

 **ROSE: Any way of stopping it?**

 _ **The Doctor holds up a tube of blue liquid.**_

 **DOCTOR: Anti-plastic.**

 **ROSE: Anti-plastic.**

 **DOCTOR: Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?**

 **ROSE: Hold on. Hide what?**

 **DOCTOR: The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal.**

 **ROSE: What's it look like?**

 **DOCTOR: Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible. What? What?**

 _ **The Doctor turns and looks at what Rose is staring at on the south bank but the penny doesn't drop.**_

"Are you serious?" Rose asked. "And you say I'm oblivious!"

 **DOCTOR: What? What is it? What?**

 _ **He finally catches on to what Rose is looking at.**_

 **DOCTOR: Oh. Fantastic!**

 **SOUTH BANK**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose run across Westminster Bridge.**_

 **DOCTOR: Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables-**

 **ROSE: The breast implants.**

"That's what you think of?" Donna asked.

Rose just shrugged.

 **DOCTOR: Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath.**

 **ROSE: What about down here?**

 _ **Rose looks over the parapet and sees a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps.**_

"You're really quick." River remarked.

 **DOCTOR: Looks good to me.**

 _ **They run down and the Doctor opens up the hatch.**_

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 _ **They climb down the ladder into a brick-built area with lots of chains. From there they go through a door and down a flight of steps into a multi-level chamber.**_

 **DOCTOR: The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature.**

 **ROSE: Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go.**

 **DOCTOR: I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance.**

The companions nodded. The Doctor would always give living things a chance.

 _ **He goes down to a catwalk overlooking the seething vat.**_

 **DOCTOR: I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation.**

"I never really understood the whole Shadow Proclamation thing." Rose said.

"They're basically the outer space police." Ten said.

 _ **The stuff in the vat flexes.**_

 **DOCTOR: Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?**

 _ **Rose spots Mickey on a lower level and runs down.**_

 **ROSE: Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right.**

 **MICKEY: That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!**

 **ROSE: You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy.**

 **ROSE: You knew that and you never said?**

 **DOCTOR: Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?**

 _ **The Doctor continues downwards.**_

"Still not a fan of domestics." Martha sighed.

 **DOCTOR: Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?**

Everyone spluttered laughter out.

 _ **A sort of face forms in the vat of plastic.**_

 **DOCTOR: Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go.**

 **ROSE: Doctor!**

 _ **A pair of shop dummies grab the Doctor. One takes the vial of anti-plastic from his pocket.**_

"Oh no." Jack declared. "Here's where things go wrong."

 **DOCTOR: That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not. What do you mean?**

"What does what mean?"

 _ **A door slides back to reveal the Tardis.**_

 **DOCTOR: No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!**

Nine, Ten, and Elevens faces became somber once more, their minds caught back in the Time War. Their respective companions tried to comfort them by holding their hands, but it barely helped at all.

Clara looked on, sadly. She couldn't bear seeing the Doctor feeling so hurt.

 **ROSE: What's it doing?!**

 **DOCTOR: It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!**

The companions shook their heads. The Doctor was always so selfless.

 _ **As the plastic in the vat keeps roaring, Rose phones her mother.**_

 **ROSE: Mum?**

 **EXT. POLICE STATION**

 **JACKIE: Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You can get compensation, I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me.**

Rose managed a small chuckle. "Even at the end of the world, my mum still won't change."

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 **ROSE: Where are you, mum?**

 **EXT. QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 **JACKIE: I'm in town.**

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 **ROSE: No, go home! Just go home right now!**

 **EXT. QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 **JACKIE: Darling, you're breaking up. Listen, I'm just going to do a bit of late night shopping. I'll see you later. Ta-ra!**

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 **ROSE: Mum! Mum!**

 **EXT. QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 _ **Jackie goes into Queen's Arcade.**_

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 _ **The Nestene Consciousness begins to throw energy bolts around.**_

 **DOCTOR: It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!**

 _ **The London Eye lights up with energy.**_

 **ROSE: It's the end of the world.**

"You're rather dramatic, aren't you?" Martha inquired to Rose.

"What? It was." Rose said.

"Yeah, but you actually said it." Mickey grinned.

 **QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 **CLIVE: There's no point creating a spreadsheet if you're going to spend summer money in winter months.**

 _ **The shop window dummies begin moving.**_

 **CAROLINE: Oh, my God! I thought they were just dummies. I nearly had a heart attack.**

 _ **Everyone stops to watch the autons until one of them breaks the glass window. Jackie is coming down one of the escalators.**_

 **CLIVE: It's true. Everything I read, all the stories, it's true.**

 _ **An autons fingers drop and it shoots Clive.**_

Everyone gasps.

Rory was remembering when he had been one of those things.

"Oh no," Rose muttered, "he was so nice…"

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 _ **The plastic in the vat is getting extremely agitated.**_

 **DOCTOR: Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!**

 **ROSE: The stairs have gone.**

 _ **The Autons try to push the Doctor into the vat. Rose and Mickey run to the Tardis.**_

 **ROSE: I haven't got the key!**

 **MICKEY: We're going to die!**

 _ **Rose looks around for other possibilities.**_

 **QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 _ **Autons start coming down the escalator, shooting at anyone. Jackie screams, throwing away her plastic bag and runs. Outside the Arcade is just as dangerous. The Autons shoot a passing taxi driver. She hides behind the crashed vehicle, then three brides smash their way out of the shop behind her.**_

"Oh, God." Rose stares at the screen, willing her mum to move.

 **NESTENE CHAMBER**

 **DOCTOR: No!**

 **NESTENE: Time Lord.**

 _ **Rose stands up and looks at the Doctor, then runs round the chamber.**_

 **MICKEY: Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!**

"That's nice. Thanks Rickey." Nine gave a sarcastic smile at Mickey.

 **ROSE: I've got no A Levels, no job, no future.**

 _ **She grabs an axe as the three brides prepare to shoot Jackie.**_

Rose momentarily forgets that her mum is perfectly fine back at home and covers her mouth with her hand in fear. She then feels another hand squeezing her right hand and looks to her right to see the tenth Doctor looking down at her.

 **ROSE: But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze!**

 _ **Rose chops through the rope holding a very long chain to the wall and takes firm hold. She runs and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat. The second one also drops the vial of anti-plastic into it. The Nestene screams as it starts to turn blue.**_

There's cheering all around the room as they watch Rose's heroics, plus one "that's my Rosie" from a certain captain.

 **DOCTOR: Rose!**

 _ **The Doctor grabs her as she swings back.**_

 **DOCTOR: Now we're in trouble.**

 _ **Explosions start and the signals from the London Eye stop. The shop dummies start to stagger then fall over. The Doctor and Rose run to the TARDIS, where Mickey is holding on for dear life, and they all go inside. The TARDIS dematerialises.**_

 **EXT. EMBANKMENT**

 _ **The TARDIS materializes and Mickey runs out, terrified.**_

A few laughs can be heard, Jack's most prominent.

"Oh my God! Your reaction is hilarious!"

"Shut it, Captain Cheesecake." Mickey told him, embarrassed.

 **EXT. QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 _ **Jackie answers her mobile.**_

 **JACKIE: Rose! Rose, don't go out of the house.**

 **EXT. EMBANKMENT**

 **JACKIE [OC]: It's not safe. There were these things, and they were shooting! And they-**

 _ **Rose, satisfied, hangs up.**_

 **EXT. QUEEN'S ARCADE**

 **JACKIE: Hello? Hello?**

 **EXT. EMBANKMENT**

 _ **Rose goes over to Mickey, who is trying to hide behind a pallet. The Doctor stays in the doorway of the TARDIS.**_

 **ROSE: A fat lot of good you were.**

 **DOCTOR: Nestene Consciousness? Easy.**

 **ROSE: You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge.**

 **MICKEY: Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing.**

"Thanks again."

 **DOCTOR: He's not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere.**

 **ROSE: Is it always this dangerous?**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so.**

"You said no?" Amy asked Rose, stunned. "How could you say no to that?"

Rose laughed. "Honestly, I don't know. I think my brain was a little fried after that first adventure."

 **DOCTOR: Okay. See you around.**

 _ **The TARDIS dematerialises.**_

 **ROSE: Come on, let's go. Come on. Come on.**

 _ **The TARDIS materialises again.**_

 **DOCTOR: By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?**

 **ROSE: Thanks.**

 **MICKEY: Thanks for what?**

 **ROSE: Exactly.**

 _ **Rose kisses Mickey on the cheek and runs into the TARDIS.**_

"Damn," Jack said, "that was even ruder than the Doctor."

"Rude or not," Donna said, "I think that whole thing was brilliant."

Everyone agreed, wide smiles on their faces.

"Well then," Eleven began, "shall we see what happens next?"

 **Okay, my apologies to those to who I said this chapter would be up in an hour five hours ago. I'm reallllyyyy sorry. Please forgive me. Also, I'm debating on whether or not I should put the "next time" trailers at the beginning of a chapter or the end of a chapter. Please tell me which you'd prefer.**


	3. The End of the World

**Hello once again, my lovely readers. Chapter three is up and running, and I've decided to devote the rest of today and tomorrow on writing more of this fanfiction instead of doing what I should be doing (schoolwork and chores). And to the guest, Hajane: I'll be sure to get the Children in Need, Pond Life, etc. videos into this fic. I think I'll be doing the Pond Life videos throughout the story instead of all at once, but if any of you have a preference as to how things are done in this fanfiction, please do tell me. Now, while I have decided to put the Next Time trailers at the end of each chapter, there will be two Next Time trailers in this chapter and in this chapter only: one at the beginning and one at the end, seeing as I did not put the previous Next Time trailer at the end of last chapter. Now let's get done with this long-as-hell note and get on with the story.**

" **NEXT TIME"**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

"Ooh, what's this?" Jack asked.

"I think it's telling us what's going to be happening next." Rose stated bluntly.

"No." Even Jack's breathing came out as sarcastic.

 **DOCTOR: This is the year five billion...**

"Five billion?" Martha asked Rose, stunned. "That's where you went your first time?"

Rose answered her with, "the Doctor decided he really wanted to impress me."

 **DOCTOR: ...and this is the day**

 _ **The Doctor looks at his watch.**_

 **DOCTOR: Hold on.**

 _ **The sun begins to expand.**_

"Whoa, what's going on there?" Clara asked.

 **DOCTOR: Welcome to the end of the world.**

"Someone just loves their drama." Jack said.

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 **STEWARD: Who the hell are you?**

"Looks like people are just as rude in the year five billion." Donna noted.

 **DOCTOR: Oh! I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler; she's my plus one. Is that all right?**

 **STEWARD: Representing the Forest of Cheem we have: trees.**

"All right, so he's blue and they're trees." Donna said.

 **STEWARD: The Moxx of Balhoon. The Face of Boe.**

A shriek of "WHAT" was heard from Captain Jack.

Everyone except for three of the Doctors and Martha became confused and started asking Jack what was wrong.

"N-nothing, it's nothing." He said, startled after seeing what he knew was his head in a jar.

The others weren't convinced, but didn't push him.

 **STEWARD: The last human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brian.**

The humans in the room (minus one captain and one professor) were so astonished that their mouths dropped a little.

"How is that a human?" Rory asked.

"I know, right?" Rose replied.

"I don't know how anyone like that could even call themselves human." Amy added.

"Now, now," Ten tried, "it's what's on the inside that counts."

"From what I remember," Rose began, "she wasn't very pretty on the inside, either."

"What inside?" Clara retorted. "She's transparent."

 **CASSANDRA: Oh, now, don't stare. Look at how thin I am!**

 **EXT. PLATFORM ONE**

 _ **The ship rumbles.**_

"Is that supposed to happen?" Martha asked.

 **INT. PLATFORM ONE**

 **DOCTOR: That's not supposed to happen.**

"Guess not."

 **INT. TARDIS**

 _ **Rose runs into the TARDIS with the Doctor.**_

 **DOCTOR: Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?**

There were a few shouts of "forwards" and other shouts of "backwards."

 **ROSE: Forwards.**

 **DOCTOR: How far?**

 **ROSE: One hundred years.**

"Boring." Jack sing-songed loudly.

Rose couldn't hit Jack seeing as he was on a different couch, so Mickey hit him for her.

 _ **The TARDIS travels through the time vortex for a little bit.**_

 **DOCTOR: There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century.**

 **ROSE: You're kidding.**

 **DOCTOR: That's a bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?**

 **ROSE: Fine by me.**

 **DOCTOR: Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire.**

"Hmm, I'd love to go there." Amy said, then turning to Eleven. "Doctor, we have got to go there."

Rory groaned as he remembered his wife's love for Romans.

 **ROSE: You think you're so impressive.**

 **DOCTOR: I am so impressive.**

"Classic Doctor." Mickey said.

 **ROSE: You wish.**

 **DOCTOR: Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!**

"Never mess with the Doctor's ego." River said.

"That's righ-" Eleven began to say before what River said registered. "Hey!"

A little wave of laughter went throughout everyone aside from the Doctors.

 _ **The TARDIS flies through the time vortex.**_

 **ROSE: Where are we? What's out there?**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 _ **Rose exits the TARDIS and descends a flight of steps. The Doctor then exits as well and uses his sonic screwdriver on a control panel. A shutter goes down to reveal they are in orbit around the Earth.**_

 **DOCTOR: You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day-**

 _ **The Doctor checks his watch.**_

 **DOCTOR: Hold on.**

 _ **The sun begins to expand.**_

 **DOCTOR: This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world.**

"So that's how it ends," Clara muttered. "We get burnt to a crisp."

"Not exactly." Twelve tried to reassure her.

"I'm not sure bringing a girl to watch her planet burn is exactly the best idea for a first date." Jack informed the Doctor.

Rose and Ten's faces began to turn red, Rose muttering a "shut up."

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

 **EXT. PLATFORM ONE**

 _ **Two shuttles approach and land on the space station.**_

 **COMPUTER: Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine.**

"They make it sound like it's some sort of party." Clara was still not happy with the news of how her planet died, especially since she, earlier, had tried very hard to protect the Earth from going out the same way.

"Well, to them it kind of is." Nine informed her delicately, not wanting to set the petite teacher off like when he first met her.

 **INT. PLATFORM ONE**

 **COMPUTER: Followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite.**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose walk down a corridor.**_

 **ROSE: So, when it says guests, does that mean people?**

 **DOCTOR: Depends what you mean by people.**

 **ROSE: I mean people. What do you mean?**

 **DOCTOR: Aliens.**

 **ROSE: What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?**

 **DOCTOR: It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn.**

 **The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on a wall panel.**

 **ROSE: What for?**

 **DOCTOR: Fun.**

"Ah," Mickey expressed, "so that's their interpretation of 'fun.'"

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 **DOCTOR: Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich.**

 **ROSE: But, hold on. They did this once on Newsround Extra. The sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years.**

 **DOCTOR: Millions, but the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there? Gravity satellites holding back the sun.**

 **ROSE: The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things.**

 **DOCTOR: They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over.**

 **ROSE: How long's it got?**

 **DOCTOR: About half an hour and then the planet gets roasted.**

"Geez, no need to sound so excited." Amy said to Nine.

 **ROSE: Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?**

Everyone bar the Doctors looked intensely at the screen, some for different reasons.

 **DOCTOR: I'm not saving it. Time's up.**

"What?!" Amy had a small outburst. "What do you mean you're not saving it? You save planets like it's your day job."

"Oh, don't start." Clara said. "He'll probably just say what he always says."

"Which is..?"

"There are rules...blah blah blah, blah blah." Clara said in her best Scottish accent.

 **ROSE: But what about the people?**

 **DOCTOR: It's empty. They're all gone. No one left.**

"Gone where?" Martha asked.

"Exploring." Amy answered with a smile.

 **ROSE: Just me, then.**

"Not even me." Rose said quietly, correcting her former self.

Ten grabbed hold of her hand while Nine looked at Rose, confused by what she meant.

 _ **A blue-skinned person strides towards them.**_

 **STEWARD: Who the hell are you?**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, that's nice, thanks.**

 **STEWARD: But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now.**

 **DOCTOR: That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler. She's my plus one. Is that all right?**

 _ **The Doctor puts away the piece of apparently blank paper he was showing to the Steward.**_

Jack clicks his tongue. "Gotta love psychic paper."

 **STEWARD: Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy.**

 _ **The Steward goes over to a lectern.**_

 **DOCTOR: The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time.**

 **ROSE: He's blue.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

 **ROSE: Okay.**

"Well, you got over that quick." Jack stated.

 **STEWARD: We have in attendance the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Thank you. All staff to their positions.**

 _ **The staff appear and head to their positions.**_

 **STEWARD: Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest? Representing the Forest of Cheem, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa.**

 _ **The tree people enter with two larger male escorts.**_

 **STEWARD: There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon.**

 _ **The Moxx of Balhoon enters.**_

 **STEWARD: And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.**

 _ **Aliens enter.**_

 **STEWARD: The inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you.**

 _ **More aliens enter.**_

 **STEWARD: Cal Spark Plug. Mister and Mrs Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light.**

Everyone in the room watched, either fascinated or grinning, as all kinds of aliens entered the room.

 _ **The trees go up to the Doctor.**_

 **JABE: The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather.**

 _ **Jabe gives the Doctor the cutting.**_

 **DOCTOR: Thank you. Yes, gifts. Er, I give you in return air from my lungs.**

 _ **He breathes gently on Jabe.**_

 **JABE: How intimate.**

 **DOCTOR: There's more where that came from.**

 **JABE: I bet there is.**

"Did you just flirt with a tree?" Amy asked, slightly weirded out.

"Yes, I did." Nine flashed a grin at her.

 **STEWARD: From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe.**

 _ **A glass case with a large, humanoid head inside is wheeled in.**_

Everyone watched Jack for some kind of reaction, but Jack refused to do anything out of the ordinary this time. Instead, he let his mind wander, thinking about how he, in the future, would sponsor Rose and the Doctor's first date.

 **DOCTOR: The Moxx of Balhoon.**

 **MOXX: My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily salivas.**

 _ **Moxx's spit hits Rose in the face.**_

Everyone immediately grimaces, feeling bad for Rose.

Rose just shook her head slightly. Recalling the event distastefully.

 **DOCTOR: Thank you very much.**

 _ **The black-robed group glide up.**_

 **DOCTOR: Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs.**

 _ **The Doctor breaths on the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.**_

"Do they really accept that as a gift?" Martha asked.

"They'll probably have thought that it was sacred among my culture." Nine replied.

 _ **A large metal hand holds out a ball.**_

 **ADHERENT: A gift of peace in all good faith.**

 **STEWARD: And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen.**

 _ **A face in a piece of thin skin stretched in a rectangular frame is wheeled in by two men hidden in top-to-toe hospital whites.**_

Most humans shook their heads disapprovingly, as though just having Cassandra in the show was an insult.

 **CASSANDRA: Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturise me. Moisturise me.**

"Just how long can humans live in the future?" Mickey asked.

"With the right medical care, I'd say, ooh...about three thousand years?"

All the humans (besides the obvious) were stunned at this information.

 _ **One of her attendants uses a pump spray on the skin.**_

 **CASSANDRA: Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity.**

Some people laughed at Cassandra and her jokes, while others merely looked disturbed with her.

 _ **Rose has walked round the back of Cassandra to see just how thin she is, and a 50's jukebox is wheeled in.**_

 **CASSANDRA: According to the archives, this was called an iPod.**

"Okay," Donna said, "Cassandra's informants are clearly screwed up."

"I think everything went awry in the fifty-second century, and things were never really the same after that." Ten told Donna.

 **CASSANDRA: It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!**

 _ **One of the little attendants presses a button and Tainted Love by Soft Cell plays.**_

"'Classical.'" Clara repeats. "'Greatest composers?'"

 **STEWARD: Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes.**

 _ **Rose finally can't take all the aliens, and runs out. The Doctor goes to follow her, but gets intercepted.**_

 **JABE: Doctor?**

 _ **The device which Jabe is holding, presumably a type of camera, flashes.**_

 **JABE: Thank you.**

 **ADHERENT: A gift of peace in all good faith.**

 **STEWARD: No, you're very kind, but I'm just the Steward.**

 **ADHERENT: A gift of peace in all good faith.**

 **STEWARD: Well, yes, thank you. Of course.**

 _ **The steward takes the proffered ball. Jabe consults her camera, which twitters like a bird.**_

 **JABE: Identify species. Please identify species. Now stop it. Identify his race. Where's he from? It's impossible.**

 _ **She hurries away. One of the Adherent's gifts has been placed on a shelf in a display stand. It opens, and a four-legged metal spider scurries away.**_

"Ooh…" River leans forward, interested. "Somebody's up to no good."

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 _ **Rose has wandered off, and is looking at the growing Sun through a window when a young woman of the same race as the Steward comes round the corner.**_

 **ROSE: Sorry. Am I allowed to be in here?**

 **RAFFALO: You have to give us permission to talk.**

"What kind of place.." Martha began before finishing, "you know what, never mind."

 **ROSE: Er, you have permission.**

 **RAFFALO: Thank you. And, no, you're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere.**

 **ROSE: Okay.**

 _ **Raffalo goes to a wall panel and unlocks it.**_

 **ROSE: What's your name?**

 **RAFFALO: Raffalo.**

 **ROSE: Raffalo?**

 **RAFFALO: Yes, miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance. There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Boe's suite. There must be something blocking the system. He's not getting any hot water.**

 **ROSE: So, you're a plumber?**

 **RAFFALO: That's right, miss.**

 **ROSE: They still have plumbers?**

"Of course there's still plumbers." Nine said to Rose.

"Well, sorry, I just realized that spit is sacred and trees are people."

 **RAFFALO: I hope so, else I'm out of a job.**

 **ROSE: Where are you from?**

 **RAFFALO: Crespallion.**

 **ROSE: That's a planet, is it?**

"Actually," Eleven said, "Crespallion is part of the Jaggit Brocade, which is affiliated to teh Scarlet Junction, Convex fifty six."

"Yeah, I know that know." Rose nodded to the television.

 **RAFFALO: No. Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex fifty six.**

"Oh." Eleven's face began to turn slightly red.

 **RAFFALO: And where are you from, miss? If you don't mind me asking.**

 **ROSE: No, not at all. Er, I don't know. A long way away. I just sort of hitched a lift with this man. I didn't even think about it. I don't even know who he is. He's a complete stranger.**

Nine, Ten, and Eleven sent pouts Rose's way, who laughed.

Twelve simply scoffed at his younger self's behavior.

 **ROSE: Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it.**

 **RAFFALO: Thank you, miss. And er, thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate.**

"Well, I'd hate to meet the people living five billion years in the future." Donna said.

 **ROSE: Okay. See you later.**

 _ **Rose leaves. Raffalo removes the wall panel and has a look inside.**_

 **RAFFALO: Now then. Control, I'm at junction nineteen and I think the problem's coming from in here. I'll go inside and have a look.**

 _ **Before she can crawl into the conduit, there is a tapping sound of metal on metal.**_

River and the Doctors frown, already having realized what the tapping is.

 **RAFFALO: What's that? Is something in there?**

 _ **A metal spider comes towards her.**_

"Oh, God." Rose mutters. In her mind, three words were repeating themselves: _please not Raffalo_.

 **RAFFALO: Oh! Who are you, then?**

 _ **It scuttles away.**_

 **RAFFALO: Hold on! If you're an upgrade I just need to register you, that's all. Oh, come back.**

 _ **She gets inside the conduit.**_

 **RAFFALO: Ah, there you are. Now, I just need to register your ident. Oh, there's two of you. Got yourself a little mate. I think I'd better report this to Control. How many of you are there? What are you? Oh, no, no, no!**

 _ **Raffalo gets dragged along the conduit.**_

The companions gasp while the Doctors look on grimly.

 **INT. STEWARD'S OFFICE**

 _ **The Steward puts his gift from the Adherents of the Repeated Meme on a side table and sits at his desk. The computer beeps and burbles at him.**_

 **STEWARD: What's that? Well, how should I know?**

 _ **He makes a broadcast.**_

 **STEWARD: Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery fifteen please report to the Steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that use of teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty five point four slash cup slash sixteen. Thank you.**

"Oh, sweetie," River shakes her head and her voice is filled with disappointment, "you have got to remember your peace treaties. Honestly, at least make the outer shield invisible."

"Oh, but that's such a big drain on the power!" Eleven whined, to which River rolled her eyes.

 _ **The ball hatches another metal spider.**_

River began thinking, wondering what the plan was for these tiny "spiders."

Wait a second.

Tiny. That was it! The robot was small and therefore perfect for infiltration, which was what it was doing in the conduit. That leaves two options open: spying or sabotage.

Now for the robots' leader, which she had to go back to in order to figure out what the spiders' mission was. They came from the "gift" from the Adherents of the Repeated Meme. But wasn't a repeated meme simply an idea? Which meant that their names meant "supporters of the idea." And their voices and bodies were very robotic as well, not to mention they wore hoods. If you're going to support something, wouldn't you want people to know who it was that was supporting it? Not in their case, because obviously they were robots too.

This meant that the Adherents were simply the fall guys, which left only one option open: sabotage. Because it doesn't make much sense for there to be fall guys when spying. After all, the whole idea of spying is that nobody notices you.

River sat back into the cushions and grinned, pleased that she was able to figure out what was going on.

 **EXT. PLATFORM ONE**

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty-five minutes.**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 _ **Rose is playing with the silver ball. AKA the "gift."**_

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty-five minutes.**

 **ROSE: Oh, thanks.**

 _ **She puts the ball down and picks up the plant pot.**_

 **ROSE: Hello. My name's Rose.**

Jack spluttered out laughter and everyone else had to try holding back their smiles.

"Y-you're, you're talking to a-a plant!" Jack wheezed.

 **ROSE: That's a sort of plant. We might be related.**

That brought on a whole new fit of giggles for Jack.

 **ROSE: I'm talking to a twig.**

 _ **The ball hatches.**_

Everyone besides River held their breath.

River knew that as long as Rose didn't notice the spider, she would come to no harm.

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 _ **The staff are wheeling the TARDIS away.**_

 **DOCTOR: Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches.**

"Yeah, you better not lay a finger on the Doctor's poor TARDIS." Mickey laughed. He received glares from each Doctor.

 _ **One of the staff members hands the Doctor a ticket. Some spiders scuttle along the ceiling.**_

 _Yes,_ River thought, _perfect for infiltration._

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 _ **The spider scans Rose's hand then scuttles away when the Doctor calls out.**_

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Rose? Are you in there?**

 _ **The Doctor enters.**_

 **DOCTOR: Aye, aye. What do you think, then?**

 **ROSE: Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper. They're just so alien. The aliens are so alien. You look at 'em and they're alien.**

"Of course the aliens are alien." Jack said. "They're...well, they're alien!"

"Well I didn't really know what to expect." Rose shot back. "I mean, he comes sauntering in-" Rose gestures to Nine "-claiming to be an alien when he looks perfectly human! So, for all I knew, all aliens could look like we do. I didn't know!"

 **DOCTOR: Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South.**

 **ROSE: Where are you from?**

 **DOCTOR: All over the place.**

 **ROSE: They all speak English.**

 **DOCTOR: No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates.**

 **ROSE: It's inside my brain?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, in a good way.**

 **ROSE: Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?**

 **DOCTOR: I didn't think about it like that.**

"You never think about it like that." Clara grumbles.

"Like what?" Twelve asks.

"Sensitively!"

 **ROSE: No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South. Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?**

 **DOCTOR: I'm just the Doctor.**

 **ROSE: From what planet?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!**

 **ROSE: Where are you from?**

 **DOCTOR: What does it matter?**

 **ROSE: Tell me who you are!**

 **DOCTOR: This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me.**

"Things are heating up in the Nine/Rose fandom." Jack whispered under his breath.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Nothing."

"Ah, yes." It was Clara who spoke this time. "It's the 'first adventure revelation.'"

"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked Clara.

"It's the moment when you realize there's a whole new layer to traveling with the Doctor that you never expected." Clara explained.

"That happened for you too?" Rose became intrigued.

"Yup. And I'm guessing for everyone else as well."

"Oh, yeah."

"Yes."

"Definitely."

All the companions, and I mean _all_ of them, agreed.

Rose and all the other companions smiled a little, happy to know that there were others who understood the experiences they went through.

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes.**

 **ROSE: All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver.**

 _ **Rose takes out her mobile phone.**_

 **ROSE: Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit.**

 **DOCTOR: Tell you what.**

 _ **He takes her phone apart.**_

 **DOCTOR: With a little bit of jiggery pokery.**

 **ROSE: Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?**

 **ROSE: No, I failed hullabaloo.**

Everyone smiled softly, happy to hear the Doctor and his companion playfully bantering again.

 **DOCTOR: Oh. There you go.**

 _ **Rose phones her mum.**_

 **JACKIE [OC]: Hello?**

 **ROSE: Mum?**

 **JACKIE [OC]: Oh, what is it?**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 _ **Jackie is emptying the washing machine.**_

 **JACKIE: What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits.**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **JACKIE [OC]: You should get your money back. Go on.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day.**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **JACKIE [OC]: What's so funny?**

 **ROSE: Nothing. You all right, though?**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE: What day is it?**

"Oh, great idea." Mickey said sarcastically. "Now she's going to think you've been drinking."

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover?**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **JACKIE [OC]: Oh, I tell you what. Put a quid in that lottery syndicate. I'll pay you back later.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, er, I was just calling 'cos…**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE [OC]: ...I might be late getting back home.**

 **JACKIE: Is there something wrong?**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE: No, I'm fine. Top of the world.**

 _ **Jackie hangs up.**_

 **DOCTOR: Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill.**

 **ROSE: That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead.**

 **DOCTOR: Bundle of laughs, you are.**

 _ **The space station shakes.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's not supposed to happen.**

"Oh, Doctor." Clara smiled fondly at Twelve. "You just go for the adventure."

"Well, what else is there?" Twelve asks, laughing lightly.

Clara giggles some and even dares to lean into him a little.

Everyone else looked on at this exchange, slightly confused. The way Clara had been talking about her Doctor before had made him sound self-centered and rude. But now, they seemed to get along pretty well.

 **INT. STEWARD'S OFFICE**

 **STEWARD: Well, what was it? I'm just getting green lights at this end.**

 _ **The Steward makes a broadcast.**_

 **STEWARD: Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you.**

River scoffs. "That most definitely wasn't gravity pockets."

 **STEWARD: The whole place shook! I felt it. I've hosted all sorts of events on Platforms One, Three, Six and Fifteen and I've never felt the slightest tremor. I warn you, if this lot decide to sue. I'm going to scan the infrastructure.**

 _ **He does so, then hears a scuttling sound.**_

 **STEWARD: What's that? Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings. I have no idea. Well, they're small. The scan says they're metal. I don't know what they look like!**

 _ **Then he sees one on the desk.**_

 **STEWARD: Although I imagine they might look rather like that. You're not on the guest list. How did you get on board?**

 _ **The spider pushes a button on his desk keyboard.**_

 **STEWARD: No.**

"That can't be good." Jack said.

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter deactivated.**

Jack's eyes widened. "That's definitely not good."

 **STEWARD: No!**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.**

 _ **The room starts to fill with white light from the ceiling downwards as the filter on the window lowers.**_

 **STEWARD: No! Sun filter, up! No, no, no**

 **COMPUTER: External temperature four thousand degrees.**

 **STEWARD: Control, respond! Sun filter up! Argh!**

 _ **The spider escapes through a small vent into the corridor.**_

Everyone in the room was left staring at the screen, unable to say anything. Only halfway in and already two people had died.

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 **MOXX: Indubitably, this is the Bad Wolf scenario. I find the inherent laxity of the on-going multiverse**

Rose, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Jack gaped at the screen. Bad Wolf was there, too?

Nine looked at Rose, concerned. "What is it?"

"It's just, well-" she began to answer him but then thought twice, "-you'll see."

 _ **The Doctor and Rose enter.**_

 **DOCTOR: That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that. What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?**

 **JABE: It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me.**

 **DOCTOR: Where's the engine room?**

 **JABE: I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife.**

 **DOCTOR: She's not my wife.**

 **JABE: Partner?**

 **DOCTOR: No.**

 **JABE: Concubine?**

 **DOCTOR: Nope.**

 **JABE: Prostitute?**

"Seriously?" Amy sounded astonished.

Everyone else shook their heads. Where were these people's manners?

 **ROSE: Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson.**

 _ **Rose goes to talk to Cassandra.**_

Jack grinned at Rose. "Oh, Rosie, that was brilliant."

Rose smiled at the compliment.

 **DOCTOR: Don't start a fight.**

 _ **He offers Jabe his arm.**_

 **DOCTOR: I'm all yours.**

 **ROSE: And I want you home by midnight.**

Clara laughed. "Ordering the Doctor around-I like your style."

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in fifteen minutes. Earth Death in fifteen minutes.**

 **INT. MAINTENANCE DUCT**

 _ **A multitude of spiders scuttle out of sight behind the swags of wiring and piping.**_

 **DOCTOR: Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a Captain or what?**

 **JABE: There's just the Steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal mind.**

"Now it's just the staff and the metal mind." Mickey said.

"Thanks for the reminder." Martha said sarcastically.

 **DOCTOR: You mean the computer? But who controls that?**

 **JABE: The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another.**

 **DOCTOR: But there's no one from the Corporation on board.**

 **JABE: They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the Alpha class. Nothing can go wrong.**

 **DOCTOR: Unsinkable?**

"I wouldn't want to compare that to the Titanic, Doc." Jack said.

 **JABE: If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate.**

 **DOCTOR: You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold.**

"Why'd you go aboard if you knew it was going to sink?" Rose asked.

Nine shrugged. "Suppose it was for the experience."

"The experience of clinging to an iceberg?"

Nine rolled his eyes, unable to think of a reasonable comeback.

 **DOCTOR: So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?**

 **JABE: I'm afraid not.**

 **DOCTOR: Fantastic.**

"How is that fantastic?" Clara asked Nine.

Nine had opened his mouth to answer, but Rose interfered.

"He just wants all the glory for himself." She teased him.

"Excuse me!" Nine said, offended.

 **JABE: I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?**

"Think like a tree, Clara." Jack joked. "Be the tree."

Clara rolled her eyes, yet couldn't stop herself from smiling.

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 **CASSANDRA: Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there.**

"...Who knew?" Jack remarked.

 **CASSANDRA: Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun.**

 **ROSE: What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go?**

 **CASSANDRA: They say mankind has touched every star in the sky.**

Amy smiled a little, remembering her first trip with the Doctor to outer space England.

 **ROSE: So, you're not the last human.**

 **CASSANDRA: I am the last pure human. The others mingled. Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even Human-ish, but you know what I call them? Mongrels.**

Twelve sighed. "She should know what happens to those who try and disrupt the ways of nature."

Rose glared at the on-screen Cassandra. "I'm afraid she's already gone too far for that."

 **ROSE: Right. And you stayed behind.**

 **CASSANDRA: I kept myself pure.**

 **ROSE: How many operations have you had?**

 **CASSANDRA: Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out.**

Rose scoffed. "Oh, please."

 **ROSE: I'd rather die.**

 **CASSANDRA: Honestly, it doesn't hurt.**

 **ROSE: No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline.**

Everyone couldn't help but laugh at Rose's statement.

 **CASSANDRA: Oh, well. What do you know.**

 **ROSE: I was born on that planet, and so was my mum, and so was my dad, and that makes me officially the last human being in this room, 'cos you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking.**

 _ **Rose leaves.**_

 **INT. MAINTENANCE DUCT**

 **DOCTOR: So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this?**

 **JABE: Respect for the Earth.**

Rose gave a little smile. At least one person was there for the Earth.

 **DOCTOR: Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions.**

 **JABE: Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions.**

 **DOCTOR: In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land.**

 **JABE: All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest.**

 **DOCTOR: Excuse me.**

 _ **He scans a door panel marked Welcome to Platform One. Guide of Platform One Do You Need Assistance. A keypad labelled Maintenance log in, then Access denied.**_

 **JABE: And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am.**

 _ **She puts her hand on his arm, and the Doctor puts his hand over hers. A tear drops from his eye.**_

Nine, Ten, and Eleven looked down, reminiscing about their times on Gallifrey.

Their companions did their best to comfort them, and nobody noticed Twelve and Clara's lack of reaction.

 _ **The Doctor gets the door open.**_

 **INT. ENGINE ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?**

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 _ **Rose is met by the Adherents, who knock her out by pistol whipping her with a weapon. They drag her into a room.**_

Everyone immediately became enraged by this, and River went so far as to imagine shooting the Adherents.

 **INT. ENGINE ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro.**

 _ **He scans a panel.**_

 **DOCTOR: Gotcha.**

 _ **He pulls it off. A spider scuttles out and up the wall.**_

River frowned. Wherever the Doctor went, the spiders always seemed to be one step ahead of him.

 **DOCTOR: What the hell's that?**

 **JABE: Is it part of the retro?**

 **DOCTOR: I don't think so. Hold on.**

 _ **The Doctor aims his screwdriver at the spider, then Jabe lassoes it.**_

 **DOCTOR: Hey, nice liana.**

 **JABE: Thank you. We're not supposed to show them in public.**

 **DOCTOR: Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?**

 **JABE: What does it do?**

 **DOCTOR: Sabotage.**

River smiled at having her suspicions be confirmed.

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in ten minutes.**

 **DOCTOR: And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on.**

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in ten minutes.**

 **OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 **CASSANDRA: The planet's end. Come gather, come gather. Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad.**

 _ **The jukebox begins playing Toxic by Britney Spears.**_

Nobody even bothered to correct Cassandra by this point.

 **EXT. STEWARD'S OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: Hold on. Get back.**

 _ **The Doctor sonics a panel.**_

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.**

 **JABE: Is the Steward in there?**

 **DOCTOR: You can smell him. Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend.**

 _ **The Doctor runs off.**_

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.**

 _ **Rose wakes up to see the sun filter descending. She runs to the door and pounds on it.**_

"And of course you're in the room with the descending sun filter." River said.

 **ROSE: Let me out! Let me out!**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.**

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE [OC]: Let me out! Let me out!**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE: Let me out!**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.**

Everyone became extremely worried for the Rose on the TV, forgetting that she was perfectly fine and sitting with them. They all felt that the sun filter was lowering way too fast.

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.**

 _ **The Doctor approaches and sonics the panel.**_

 **DOCTOR: Anyone in there?**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE: Let me out!**

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, well it would be you.**

"Seriously?" Clara aimed her frustration at Nine. "She could be about to die!"

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE: Open the door!**

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **DOCTOR: Hold on. Give us two ticks.**

"How do you keep your voice so calm?" Martha asked.

"Years and years of practice." Ten answered.

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.**

 _ **The burning rays of sunlight reach the top of the door.**_

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.**

Everyone let out a breath of relief.

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.**

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending.**

"Oh, you're kidding me." Jack said.

 **DOCTOR: Just what we need.**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **DOCTOR: The computer's getting clever.**

 **ROSE: Stop mucking about!**

"You seriously think I'd be mucking about at a time like that?" Nine asked Rose.

"I was stressed and about to die. Cut me some slack." She replied.

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **DOCTOR: I'm not mucking about, it's fighting back.**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE: Open the door!**

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Ten asked.

Rose shoved her hands into her face.

 **DOCTOR [OC]: I know!**

 _ **Rose runs down the steps to get away from the rays of sunlight.**_

 **EXT. GALLERY 15**

 **ROSE [OC]: The lock's melted!**

 **COMPUTER: Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.**

 _ **Rose runs back up to the door.**_

 **DOCTOR: The whole thing's jammed, I can't open the doors. Stay there!**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Don't move!**

 **ROSE: Where am I gonna go, Ipswich?**

Despite the alarming situation, some people managed to let out a tiny huff of laughter.

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in five minutes.**

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

"I'm getting really stressed just watching this." Jack mumbled.

 **JABE: The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One.**

 **CASSANDRA: How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturise me, moisturise me.**

 **MOXX: Summon the Steward.**

 **JABE: I'm afraid the Steward is dead.**

 **MOXX: Who killed him?**

 **CASSANDRA: This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face.**

Captain Jack let out a quick, offended "hey" before shutting up immediately.

 **DOCTOR: Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master.**

 _ **The Doctor puts down the spider that Jabe was scanning, and it scuttles off to Cassandra and scans her, then goes to the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.**_

"But, I don't understand." Martha began. "Why would _they_ want to sabotage the station?"

"All will be answered in the show, Martha." Ten answered.

 **CASSANDRA: The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!**

 **DOCTOR: That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it-**

 _ **He goes over to the Adherents. Their leader tries to hit him, so he pulls of its arm.**_

 **DOCTOR: A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea.**

 _ **He pulls one of the wires dangling from the arm, and the Adherents all collapse.**_

 **DOCTOR: Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo. Go home.**

 _ **The Doctor gives the spider a nudge, and it returns to Cassandra.**_

I think we all know that River became immensely satisfied, seeing everything fall into place just the way she pictured it.

 **CASSANDRA: I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!**

 _ **Her attendants raise their spray guns.**_

 **DOCTOR: What are you going to do, moisturise me?**

Everyone laughed at the ninth Doctor's sass.

 **CASSANDRA: With acid.**

The laughter stopped.

 **CASSANDRA: Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face.**

"You're not even that." Rose said. "I mean, you don't even really have a face."

"You're talking to the TV." Jack informed her.

"Thanks, Jack."

 **DOCTOR: Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?**

"She probably has some sort of hidden teleportation device." River decided.

Eleven smiled down at his wife, knowing that she was probably scanning every detail throughout the whole episode.

 **CASSANDRA: I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous.**

 **DOCTOR: Five billion years and it still comes down to money.**

"I swear," Rose said, "that woman would die for money."

 **CASSANDRA: Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours.**

"Kid?!"

 **MOXX: Arrest her, the infidel**

 **CASSANDRA: Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option.**

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in three minutes.**

 **CASSANDRA: And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn.**

 **JABE: Then you'll burn with us.**

 **CASSANDRA: Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate.**

 _ **There is a series of explosions through the Platform.**_

 **CASSANDRA: Forcefields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me.**

Everyone scowled and glared at Cassandra. How could someone care so little for lives and care so much about profit?

 **COMPUTER: Safety systems failing.**

 **CASSANDRA: Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings.**

 _ **Cassandra and her attendants beam out.**_

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels rising.**

 **MOXX: Reset the computer.**

 **JABE: Only the Steward would know how.**

 **DOCTOR: No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill.**

"Seriously? You're gonna make that joke?" Donna asked the Doctor.

 **COMPUTER: Heat rising.**

 **EXT. PLATFORM ONE**

 **COMPUTER: Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes.**

 **INT. MAINTENANCE DUCT**

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels critical.**

 **INT. ENGINE ROOM**

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels critical.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh. And guess where the switch is.**

"What kind of idiot designed that?" Jack asked.

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.**

 _ **The Doctor pulls a breaker lever and the fans slow a little, but it resets as soon as he lets go of it.**_

 **COMPUTER: External temperature five thousand degrees.**

 _ **Jabe pulls the breaker and holds it down.**_

 **DOCTOR: You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place.**

 **JABE: I know.**

 **DOCTOR: Jabe, you're made of wood.**

 **JABE: Then stop wasting time, Time Lord.**

The Doctors and companions looked on sadly. Jabe was so selfless.

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.**

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels hazardous.**

 _ **The observation window begins to crack.**_

 **MOXX: We're going to die!**

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels hazardous.**

 **INT. ENGINE ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor makes it past the first fan.**_

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 _ **The window begins to crack.**_

 **COMPUTER: Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction.**

 _ **The Sun's rays begin to shoot in through the cracks.**_

 **INT. ENGINE ROOM**

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical.**

 _ **The Doctor looks back at Jabe, then times his run past the second fan.**_

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 _ **Sun rays begin coming through cracks.**_

 **COMPUTER: Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.**

 **INT. ENGINE ROOM**

 _ **Jabe starts to ignite. She lets go of the breaker and the fans speed up to faster than before until they are just a blur.**_

Everyone in the room has to fight back tears. So many people were dying.

 **COMPUTER: Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five**

 _ **The Doctor shuts his eyes, listening, and walks past the last fan.**_

"How the hell did you do that?!" Jack asked, astonished at the Doctor's timing.

"Time Lord senses." Was the only answer he got.

 **COMPUTER: Four.**

 _ **He opens his eyes, realises he is safe and dashes for the reset breaker.**_

 **DOCTOR: Raise shields!**

 **INT. GALLERY 15**

 **COMPUTER: One.**

 _ **A forcefield envelopes Platform One as the Earth starts to boil, then explodes.**_

Everyone stares, alarmed at how quickly the Earth exploded.

 **COMPUTER: Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair.**

 _ **Rose opens her eyes as the cracks in the window vanish, and she sees the fractured remains of home floating by.**_

 **COMPUTER: Exoglass repair.**

 _ **In the engine rooms, the fans have slowed right down for the Doctor to walk back easily to Jabe's smoking remains.**_

The sad scenes easily make everyone frown and lean on each other for support.

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 _ **Rose enters. The Moxx of Balhoon had got fried by the glare. The Doctor enters and goes over to the two other trees. He gives them the bad news.**_

 **DOCTOR: I'm sorry.**

 **ROSE: You all right?**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them.**

"Oh, no." Clara whispered, her throat seeming to tighten on her. She had seen how the Doctor could get when people close to him died, and she'd be a big liar if she said she wasn't scared as hell by it.

Her entire body was tense, but loosened when she felt a hand grab hers. She looked to her right and found Twelve staring down at her, frowning.

 **DOCTOR: Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby.**

 _ **He smashes open the alleged ostrich egg to reveal a small device.**_

 **DOCTOR: Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed.**

 **CASSANDRA [OC]: Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces.**

They all grimaced. She was _bragging_?

 _ **Cassandra is beamed back in.**_

 **CASSANDRA: Oh.**

 **DOCTOR: The last human.**

 **CASSANDRA: So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club.**

They couldn't believe it. She was even petty enough to try and cover all of it up. Cover all of her murders up.

 **DOCTOR: People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them.**

 **CASSANDRA: It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter-**

 **DOCTOR: And creak?**

The companions except for Rose creased their eyebrows. Creak?

 **CASSANDRA: And what?**

 **DOCTOR: Creak. You're creaking.**

 **CASSANDRA: What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturise me, moisturise me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!**

 **DOCTOR: You raised the temperature.**

 **CASSANDRA: Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything.**

 **ROSE: Help her.**

Everyone in the room couldn't help but admire Rose. Even after all that lady had done, Rose still felt at least a little compassion for her.

Some of the people in the room weren't so sure they would be able to do the same in those circumstances.

 **DOCTOR: Everything has its time and everything dies.**

 **CASSANDRA: I'm too young!**

 _ **Cassandra splatters.**_

 **EXT. PLATFORM ONE**

 **COMPUTER: Shuttles four and six departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance.**

 **INT. OBSERVATION GALLERY**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose are the only ones left.**_

 **ROSE: The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go. All those years. All that history, and no one was even looking. It's just…**

"We saw it go." Ten said. "Now. And we'll be sure to remember it."

Rose nodded, and managed a small smile.

 _ **The Doctor holds out his hand.**_

 **DOCTOR: Come with me.**

 _ **Rose takes the Doctor's hand and they exit the space station.**_

 **LONDON STREET**

 _ **Rose and the Doctor exit the TARDIS.**_

 **DOCTOR: You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky. My planet's gone.**

The mood in the room immediately dropped even lower than it already was.

 **DOCTOR: It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time.**

Clara sat, imagining the planet she had been on recently as dust and rocks. She scrunched up her nose, immediately forcing that image out of her head. Sure, the Time Lords had been absolute jerks, but that in no way warranted them burning.

 **ROSE: What happened?**

 **DOCTOR: There was a war and we lost.**

The few people who didn't know about the Time War knit their eyebrows in confusion.

 **ROSE: A war with who? What about your people?**

 **DOCTOR: I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else.**

"There's us." Said Amy.

 **ROSE: There's me.**

 **DOCTOR: You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?**

 **ROSE: I don't know. I want- Oh, can you smell chips?**

Most of the people in the room let out some laughter, feeling that it was needed after the many intense scenes.

 **DOCTOR: Yeah. Yeah.**

 **ROSE: I want chips.**

 **DOCTOR: Me too.**

 **ROSE: Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay.**

 **DOCTOR: No money.**

 **ROSE: What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close.**

 _ **She gives him her signature tongue-between-teeth smile for the first time, and they walk off.**_

The episode ended with everyone smiling at Rose and the Doctor's regular banter.

" **NEXT TIME"**

"Let's see what's in store for us this time..." Jack said, rubbing his hands together and leaning forward.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 _ **The TARDIS is shaking and the Doctor and Rose have to hold onto the console.**_

 **DOCTOR: Now, you've seen the future. Let's have a look at the past. 1860? How does 1860 sound?**

 **ROSE: What happened in 1860?**

 **DOCTOR: I don't know. Let's find out.**

"Always blundering in without having the faintest idea of what's going on." Amy ridiculed the Doctor.

"Not at all," Nine replied to her, "that's just what I want you to think."

 **INT. MORGUE**

 _ **Two men are standing over a coffin.**_

 **REDPATH: I can't believe she's gone.**

 **SNEED: Not gone, Mr. Redpath, sir. Merely sleeping.**

 _ **The corpse opens it's eyes.**_

"What the hell?" Martha, who had nearly jumped in her seat, asked.

 **SNEED: She's up and on her feet and out there somewhere!**

 **GWYNETH: Mr. Sneed, for shame. How many more times? It's ungodly!**

"Gwen?" Jack wondered. "What's she doing in 1860?"

"What d'you mean, 'Gwen,' that's Gwyneth." Rose corrected him.

"I think I know my team member when I see her."

"Team member?" Donna questioned.

"Yeah," Jack said, "Gwen, who looks and sounds exactly like that 'Gwyneth' girl, works with me."

"That's more than strange." Twelve said, eyebrows furrowed.

 _ **The corpse seen earlier is shown walking and groaning with some sort of blue-ish, white-ish light coming from out of it's mouth.**_

"That's…" Rory searched for the right word while trying to process what he was being shown. "...unsettling."

 **INT. THEATER**

 **MAN [OC]: Excuse me, sir, Mister Dickens. This is your call.**

 _ **Curtains are pulled back to reveal Charles Dickens.**_

"No…" Donna gasped.

"You're kidding!" Amy added excitedly.

 **INT. CARRIAGE**

 **SNEED: Use the sight.**

"The sight?" Clara asked.

River answered her. "It's probably some way of seeing the the future, present, or past."

 **SNEED: Find the old lady or you're dismissed.**

Many people decided right there and then that they didn't like this man.

 **INT. THEATER**

 _ **The corpse is shown glowing in the middle of the theater's crowd.**_

 **DICKENS: What phantasmagoria is this?**

 _ **The audience rises and begins to panic.**_

 **EXT. THEATER**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose hear the screams.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's more like it!**

"Love some good life-threatening ghosts." Said Clara, who grinned up at Twelve.

Some other companions turned their heads to look at Clara as if she were bonkers.

 **INT. THEATER**

 _ **The corpse has begun flying around the theater, screaming/groaning.**_

"Can't wait for this one!" Jack enthused.


	4. The Unquiet Dead

**Ok, so since I forgot to put this in earlier, here's where everyone is in their timeline:**

 **Rose - Post Doomsday/Pre-Turn Left**

 **Nine - During Aliens of London**

 **Ten - Beginning of Turn Left**

 **Donna - Beginning of Turn Left**

 **Martha - Post The End of Time**

 **Mickey - Post The End of Time**

 **Captain Jack - Post The End of Time**

 **River Song - Post The Name of the Doctor**

 **Eleven - Post The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe/pre-Asylum of the Daleks**

 **Amy - Post The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe/pre-Asylum of the Daleks**

 **Rory - Post The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe/pre-Asylum of the Daleks**

 **Clara - Post Hell Bent**

 **Twelve - Post Hell Bent/pre-The Husbands of River Song**

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 _ **Sneed lights a gas lamp.**_

 **SNEED: Sneed and Company offer their sincerest condolences, sir, in this most trying hour.**

"He doesn't sound very sincere, more businesslike." Clara noted.

 **REDPATH: Grandmamma had a good innings, Mister Sneed. She was so full of life. I can't believe she's gone.**

 **SNEED: Not gone, Mister Redpath, sir. Merely sleeping.**

"Why do I feel like there's more to that statement?" Jack asked.

 **REDPATH: May I have a moment?**

 **SNEED: Yes, of course. I shall be in the next room, should you require anything.**

 _ **Sneed leaves. The man gazes down the corpse of his grandmother, then closes his eyes. The corpse's skin turns blue for a moment.**_

"Here we go…" Rose muttered.

 _ **The corpse opens her eyes. She grabs Redpath by the throat and knocks over a vase. The crash brings Sneed back in.**_

 **SNEED: Oh, no. No.**

"He doesn't look surprised, more...exasperated." Martha noticed.

"This must be a recurring event." Ten said.

 _ **Sneed frees Redpath from the woman's grasp, forces her down and tries to put the coffin lid on.**_

 **SNEED: Gwyneth! Get down here now! We've got another one!**

"Yup." Ten popped the "p."

 _ **The corpse pushes the lid off, knocking Sneed out, and kicks her way out of the coffin side. She exits the building and walks down the street, groaning, and with blue light coming from her screaming mouth.**_

"Please tell me there weren't many people out." River groaned.

"There weren't many people out." Eleven said quickly.

"You weren't really there at the time, were you?"

"Nah."

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

" **THE UNQUIET DEAD"**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 _ **The TARDIS is in a jerky flight.**_

"Just put the blue stabilizers on." River muttered.

"Who are you to tell me how to drive my TARDIS?" Nine remarked.

"Oh, don't go there." Eleven said to cut off River, who had opened her mouth to respond.

"Wait a second, there are stabilizers?" Donna asked. "You mean you choose to drive your spaceship that way? I thought you couldn't really control it."

"Of course I'm in control of my spaceship!" Ten assured her.

River laughed. "As if!"

"Honestly," Clara sided with River, "I can fly her better than you can at this point."

"He's really that bad?" Donna asked.

"Oi!" Clara defended her flying skills. "Who said I was bad?"

The companions except for River stared at her.

"You can fly the TARDIS?"

"Like, you know all the controls and stuff?"

"How long did it take to learn?"

"Yes, yes, and much longer than it took River." Clara answered.

The stares moved over to River.

"What the hell, Doc?" Jack asked, feeling left out. "Why don't the rest of us get flying lessons?"

"Clara and River were under different circumstances." Twelve cut in.

Jack huffed and crossed his arms.

 **DOCTOR: Hold that one down!**

 **ROSE: I'm holding this one down.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, hold them both down.**

 **ROSE: It's not going to work.**

"What do you know about flying the TARDIS?" Nine asked.

"Nothing, since you never decided to teach me." Rose shot back.

 **Rose tries to stretch across half the console.**

 **DOCTOR: Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?**

 **ROSE: What happened in 1860?**

 **DOCTOR: I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!**

 _ **The TARDIS flies through the time vortex.**_

 **INT. KITCHEN**

 **SNEED: Gwyneth! Where are you, girl? Gwyneth!**

 _ **Gwyneth comes in.**_

 **SNEED: Where've you been? I was shouting.**

 **GWYNETH: I've been in the stables, sir, breaking the ice for old Sampson.**

 **SNEED: Well, get back in there and harness him up.**

"He doesn't need to be so harsh with her." Rose mumbled.

 **GWYNETH: Whatever for, sir?**

 **SNEED: The stiffs are getting lively again. Mister Redpath's grandmother, she's up and on her feet and out there somewhere on the streets. We've got to find her.**

 **GWYNETH: Mister Sneed, for shame. How many more times? It's ungodly.**

 **SNEED: Don't look at me like it's my fault. Now, come on, hurry up. She was eighty six. She can't have got far.**

 **GWYNETH: What about Mister Redpath? Did you deal with him?**

 **SNEED: No. She did.**

 **GWYNETH: That's awful, sir. I know it's not my place, and please, forgive me for talking out of turn, sir. But this is getting beyond, now. Something terrible is happening in this house, and we've got to get help.**

 **SNEED: And we will, as soon as I get that dead old woman locked up and safe and sound. Now stop prevaricating, girl. Get the hearse ready. We're going body snatching.**

 **STREET CORNER**

 _ **The TARDIS materializes.**_

 **INT. TARDIS**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose are lying on the floor, laughing.**_

 **ROSE: Blimey!**

River rolled her eyes, annoyed at her husband's lack of control over his own ship.

 **DOCTOR: You're telling me. Are you all right?**

 **ROSE: Yeah. I think so. Nothing broken. Did we make it? Where are we?**

 **DOCTOR: I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860.**

"No way." Amy said. "That can't be right."

"What can't be?" Donna asked her.

"There's no way the Doctor got the place and time right. It's unheard of."

"It is not!" Eleven tried to defend himself.

"Rio, the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta," Amy listed off places they were supposed to go, "Ravan-Skala, 'other things'-"

"Okay," Eleven interjected, "that last one was because of a solar tsunami."

"But you get the idea."

"Yeah, I got the idea."

 **ROSE: That's so weird. It's Christmas.**

"Eve." Jack said, only to be met with a "shut up" from Rose.

 **DOCTOR: All yours.**

 **ROSE: But, it's like, think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you.**

"Well, there are certain rules." Eleven said. "And it's very bad for two versions of the same person to be in the same area at once-it'll cause a lot of nasty anomalies-"

"Can you, for once, just skip over the technicalities?" Rory asked Eleven, who immediately closed his mouth.

 **ROSE: You can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still.**

 **DOCTOR: Not a bad life.**

 **ROSE: Better with two.**

The companions and Doctors all smiled.

 **ROSE: Come on, then.**

 **DOCTOR: Hey, where do you think you're going?**

 **ROSE: 1860.**

 **DOCTOR: Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella. There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up!**

 _ **Rose runs into a corridor.**_

"You remembered all that?" Jack asked Rose.

"I got lost a few times." She admitted.

 **HEARSE**

 **SNEED: Not a sign. Where is she?**

 **GWYNETH: She's vanished into the ether, sir. Where can she be?**

 _ **Sneed stops the hearse.**_

 **SNEED: You tell me, girl.**

"What does he mean by that?"

 **GWYNETH: What do you mean?**

 **SNEED: Gwyneth, you know full well.**

 **GWYNETH: No, sir. I can't.**

 **SNEED: Use the sight.**

 **GWYNETH: It's not right, sir.**

 **SNEED: Find the old lady or you're dismissed. Now, look inside, girl. Look deep. Where is she?**

River leaned forward slightly, interested in Gwyneth's power.

 **GWYNETH: She's lost, sir. She's so alone. Oh, my lord. So many strange things in her head.**

Some sort of telepathy, River decided.

 **SNEED: But where?**

 **GWYNETH: She's excited about tonight. Before she passed on, she was going to see him.**

 **SNEED: Who's him?**

 **GWYNETH: The great man. All the way from London. The great, great man.**

"Good old Charlie." Jack said.

 **INT. DRESSING ROOM**

 **MAN: Mister Dickens, Mister Dickens. Excuse me, sir, Mister Dickens. This is your call.**

"The man himself." Ten announced.

 **MAN: Are you quite well, sir?**

"He does look rather tired…" Martha noted sadly.

 **DICKENS: Splendid, splendid. Sorry.**

 **MAN: Time you were on, sir.**

 **DICKENS: Absolutely. I was just brooding. Christmas Eve. Not the best of times to be alone.**

 **MAN: Did no one travel with you, sir? No lady wife waiting out front?**

 **DICKENS: I'm afraid not.**

 **MAN: You can have mine if you want.**

Many scowled at this. They had no patience for those who discarded women as though they were handkerchiefs.

 **DICKENS: Oh, I wouldn't dare. I've been rather, let's say, clumsy, with family matters. Thank God I'm too old to cause any more trouble.**

 **MAN: You speak as though it's all over, sir.**

 **DICKENS: No, it's never over. On and on I go, the same old show. I'm like a ghost, condemned to repeat myself for all eternity.**

"Well, he's dramatic, all right." Jack said.

 **MAN: It's never too late, sir. You can always think up some new turns.**

 **DICKENS: No, I can't. Even my imagination grows stale. I'm an old man. Perhaps I've thought everything I'll ever think. Still, the lure of the limelight's as potent as a pipe, what? Eh? On with the motley.**

 _ **The Doctor is working under the console when Rose returns, appropriately attired for 1860.**_

 **DOCTOR: Blimey!**

 **ROSE: Don't laugh.**

 **DOCTOR: You look beautiful-**

Jack let out a very loud, endearing "awww."

 **DOCTOR: -considering.**

Jack let out a very low, disappointed "awww."

 **ROSE: Considering what?**

 **DOCTOR: That you're human.**

"What's wrong with being human?" Clara asked Nine.

"Nothing at all!" He replied.

"But you said-" Rory began before Rose cut him off.

"Oh, don't dwell on it, guys. He's just not the verbally generous type."

 **ROSE: I think that's a compliment. Aren't you going to change?**

"Oh, he _never_ changes." Donna said, ironically, seeing as the Doctor has regenerated many times.

 **DOCTOR: I've changed my jumper. Come on.**

"Oh, yeah, because that's totally enough." Jack said sarcastically.

Clara, on the other hand, was interested in another topic. "Do you just have a bunch of the same clothes?"

The Doctor didn't dignify that with an answer.

 **ROSE: You stay there. You've done this before. This is mine.**

 **EXT. TARDIS**

 _ **Rose softly steps out of the TARDIS and into the falling snow, the Doctor close behind her.**_

 **DOCTOR: Ready for this?**

 _ **The Doctor holds out his arm and Rose loops her arm through it.**_

 **DOCTOR: Here we go. History!**

The companions smiled, remembering their first visit to history.

 **INT. THEATER**

 _ **Curtains are pulled back to reveal Charles Dickens standing on the stage. The audience applauds and the dead woman can be seen in the crowd.**_

"It doesn't look like she's doing anything as of yet." Mickey said. "Maybe she just...wants to see the show?" He questioned hopefully, albeit knowing in his gut that that wasn't the truth.

"Or maybe she's just waiting for the right moment." Martha said.

 **EXT. THEATER**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose are walking down a street.**_ _**Behind them are Gwyneth and Mr. Sneed.**_

 **GWYNETH: She's in there, sir, I'm certain of it.**

 **SNEED: Right.**

 _ **The Doctor buys a newspaper.**_

 **DOCTOR: I got the flight a bit wrong.**

"Aha!" Amy exclaimed. "Of course you did!"

The Doctors shook their heads at how little faith Amy had in their driving skills.

Meanwhile, River shook her head at her husband(s?) shaking their heads.

 **ROSE: I don't care.**

 **DOCTOR: It's not 1860, it's 1869.**

 **ROSE: I don't care.**

 **DOCTOR: And it's not Naples.**

 **ROSE: I don't care.**

"Gee, Rose," Jack decided to tease her, "what do you care about?"

He got hit with a pillow.

 **DOCTOR: It's Cardiff.**

 **That stops Rose in her tracks.**

 **ROSE: Right.**

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed. "What's so bad about Cardiff?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all." Rose reassured him. "It's just, you know, been there, done that."

 **INT. THEATER**

 **DICKENS: Now, it is a fact that there was nothing particular at all about the knocker on the door of this house, but let any man explain to me if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without it's undergoing any intermediate process of change, not a knocker, but Marley's face. Marley's face! It looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look. It looked like-**

Everyone listened intently. It was true that they all had read "A Christmas Carol", but never had they heard it from the man himself. It was a whole different experience for them, hearing the original interpretation.

 _ **The old woman begins to glow and give off a faint gas.**_

"Oh, no." Rose said. "Fun time's over."

"What are you going on about?" Nine asked her. "The fun's just beginning."

The room was split between hearty agreements on Nine's statement and startled disagreements.

 **DICKENS: Oh, my lord. It looked like that!**

 _ **Dickens points, and the audience turns to see.**_

 **DICKENS: What phantasmagoria is this?**

 _ **The corpse rises and groans. The audience panics.**_

 **EXT. THEATER**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose hear the screaming from inside the theater.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's more like it!**

 **INT. THEATER**

 _ **A blue gas entity is coming from the corpse and flying around the auditorium. The audience flees.**_

 _So,_ River analyzed the scene before her, _the corpse is being utilized by some sort of non-physical creature as a host body._

 **DICKENS: Stay in your seats, I beg you. It is a lantern show. It's trickery.**

The companions looked on, surprised. He cared more about his show than other people's safety?

 **SNEED: Excuse me.**

 **GWYNETH: There she is, sir!**

 **SNEED: I can see that. The whole blooming world can see that!**

 _ **The police is arriving outside, blowing his whistle.**_

 **DOCTOR: Fantastic.**

Clara smiled fondly at the Doctor's love for new findings.

 _ **The corpse collapses.**_

 **DOCTOR: Did you see where it came from?**

 **DICKENS: Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!**

"Why do you always end up with the blame pinned on you?" Mickey asked.

"It's probably his straightforward attitude." River said.

 _ **Sneed and Gwyneth pick up the corpse.**_

 **ROSE: Oi! Leave her alone! Doctor, I'll get them.**

 **DOCTOR: Be careful! Did it say anything? Can it speak? I'm the Doctor, by the way.**

 **DICKENS: Doctor? You look more like a navvy.**

 **DOCTOR: What's wrong with this jumper?**

"It's not the jumper, sweetie." River informed him.

Nine crossed his arms.

 **EXT. THEATER**

 **ROSE: What're you doing?!**

 **GWYNETH: Oh, it's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself. Me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary.**

 **ROSE: She's cold. She's dead! Oh, my God, what'd you do to her?**

 _ **Sneed sneaks up behind Rose and puts a pad of cloth over her mouth. She struggles briefly then passes out.**_

"Knocked out twice in two episodes. Let's see if you'll be able to keep this streak up."

Jack got multiple pillows thrown at him.

 **GWYNETH: What did you do that for?**

 **SNEED: She's seen too much. Get her in the hearse. Legs.**

The companions looked on, worried. What were they going to do with Rose?

 **INT. THEATER**

 _ **The blue entity flies into a gas light.**_

 **DOCTOR: Gas! It's made of gas!**

River made a list in her head of all the gas-made beings she knew of. It was a pretty short list.

 **EXT. THEATER**

 _ **The Doctor and Dickens exit the theater. The Doctor sees Gwyneth locking up and getting into the hearse.**_

 **DOCTOR: Rose!**

 **DICKENS: You're not escaping me, sir. What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks. Oi, you! Follow that hearse!**

"It's funny how you order random people around and expect them to actually do what you want." Jack said.

"It's even more funny how they usually listen." Twelve retorted with raised eyebrows.

 _ **The Doctor gets into a nearby carriage.**_

 **DRIVER: I can't do that, sir.**

 **DOCTOR: Why not?**

 **DICKENS: I'll tell you why not. I'll give you a very good reason why not. Because this is my coach.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, get in, then. Move!**

 _ **The Doctor pulls Dickens into the carriage and the driver gets going.**_

"Case in point." Twelve said.

 **CARRIAGE**

 **DOCTOR: Come on, you're losing them.**

 **DRIVER: Everything in order, Mister Dickens?**

 **DICKENS: No! It is not!**

 **DOCTOR: What did he say?**

 **DICKENS: Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humour.**

 **DOCTOR: Dickens?**

 **DICKENS: Yes.**

 **DOCTOR: Charles Dickens?**

 **DICKENS: Yes.**

 **DOCTOR: The Charles Dickens?**

"Did you really not know that was Charles Dickens?" Clara asked.

"It's not very well lit in 1860, all right?" Nine retorted.

 **DRIVER: Should I remove the gentleman, sir?**

 **DOCTOR: Charles Dickens? You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent brilliant. I've read them all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?**

 **DICKENS: A Christmas Carol?**

 **DOCTOR: No, no, no, the one with the trains. The Signal Man, that's it. Terrifying! The best short story ever written. You're a genius.**

"Wow, way to suck up to him." Jack said. "You might as well be licking his boots, following him like a dog, kissing his hand-"

"Okay, Jack." Ten said to shut him up.

 **DRIVER: You want me to get rid of him, sir?**

 **DICKENS: Er, no, I think he can stay.**

Mickey laughed. "Looks like Mr. Dickens has got quite the ego as well."

 **DOCTOR: Honestly, Charles. Can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan.**

 **DICKENS: A what? A big what?**

"They don't use that term yet." River said.

 **DOCTOR: Fan. Number one fan, that's me.**

 **DICKENS: How exactly are you a fan? In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?**

"I keep myself very cool." Eleven said.

 **DOCTOR: No, it means fanatic, devoted to. Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding or what? I mean, it's rubbish, that bit.**

"Wow," Donna laughed a little, "not afraid to speak your mind, are you?"

 **DICKENS: I thought you said you were my fan.**

 **DOCTOR: Ah, well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up. No, sorry, forget about that. Come on, faster!**

 **DICKENS: Who exactly is in that hearse?**

 **DOCTOR: My friend. She's only nineteen. It's my fault. She's in my care, and now she's in danger.**

 **DICKENS: Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver, be swift! The chase is on!**

Everyone smiled or grinned, glad that Dickens now has his priorities in order.

 **DRIVER: Yes, sir!**

 **DOCTOR: Attaboy, Charlie.**

 **DICKENS: Nobody calls me Charlie.**

"I call him Charlie." Jack announced.

 **DOCTOR: The ladies do.**

"Are you a lady, Captain?" Mickey teased.

"Yeah, I'm just wearing a very convincing disguise." Jack joked with him.

 **DICKENS: How do you know that?**

"Yeah, how do you know that?" Amy asked. "Do you, like, go to fan clubs or something?"

Everyone laughed at that. The thought of the Doctor going to a fan club to enthuse about Charles Dickens was honestly quite ridiculous.

 **DOCTOR: I told you, I'm your number one-**

 **DICKENS: Number one fan.**

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 **GWYNETH: The poor girl's still alive, sir! What're we going to do with her?**

 **SNEED: I don't know! I didn't plan any of this, did I. It isn't my fault if the dead won't stay dead.**

"He seems very keen on pushing all of his problems on someone else, doesn't he?" Martha said.

 **GWYNETH: Then whose fault is it, sir? Why is this happening to us?**

"Because aliens and science, probably." Jack decided.

"Isn't it always." Clara gave a small sigh.

 _ **Gwyneth and Sneed leave. The gas lamp flares and there are whispered voices.**_

 **INT. HALLWAY**

 **SNEED: I did the Bishop a favour, once. Made his nephew look like a cherub even though he'd been a fortnight in the weir. Perhaps he'll do us an exorcism on the cheap.**

 _ **Someone knocks on the door.**_

 **SNEED: Say I'm not in. Tell them we're closed. Just, just get rid of them.**

 _ **Sneed heads down the hallway.**_

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 _ **Rose begins to wake up as blue gas from a lamp begins to flow into Mr. Redpath, who was placed in a coffin. Redpath sits up and looks at Rose.**_

 **EXT. FRONT DOOR**

 _ **Gwyneth opens the front door to Charles Dickens and the Doctor.**_

 **GWYNETH: I'm sorry, sir. We're closed.**

 **DICKENS: Nonsense. Since when did an Undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master.**

Stubborn and straight to the point. Twelve nodded, reaffirming his like for Charles Dickens.

 **GWYNETH: He's not in, sir.**

 **DICKENS: Don't lie to me, child. Summon him at once.**

 **GWYNETH: I'm awfully sorry, Mister Dickens, but the master's indisposed.**

 _ **A gas lamp flares.**_

 **DOCTOR: Having trouble with your gas?**

Twelve frowned. His previous regenerations, on the other hand...

 **DICKENS: What the Shakespeare is going on?**

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Famous people using other famous people as swear words?"

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 _ **Rose spots Redpath.**_

 **ROSE: Are you all right? You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding. You are kidding me, aren't you?**

"I'm not sure that thing has a sense of humour." Martha said.

 _ **Redpath climbs out of the coffin and walks towards her slowly.**_

 **ROSE: Okay, not kidding.**

 _ **Rose runs for the door.**_

 **INT. FRONT DOOR**

 _ **The Doctor goes past Gwyneth to the flaring gas lamp.**_

 **GWYNETH: You're not allowed inside, sir.**

"The Doctor sees 'don't enter' as an invitation to enter." Amy remarked.

 **DOCTOR: There's something inside the walls.**

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 _ **Redpath's grandmother reanimates in her coffin.**_

 **INT. FRONT DOOR**

 **DOCTOR: The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas.**

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 **ROSE: Let me out!**

 **INT. FRONT DOOR**

 **ROSE [OC]: Open the door!**

 **DOCTOR: That's her.**

 **ROSE [OC]: Please, please, let me out!**

 **INT. HALLWAY**

 _ **The Doctor runs down the corridor and into Sneed.**_

 **SNEED: How dare you, sir. This is my house!**

 **DICKENS: Shut up.**

Twelve grinned, his like for Charles Dickens growing. Clara noticed this and rolled her eyes.

 **SNEED: I told you.**

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 **ROSE: Let me out! Somebody open the door! Open the door!**

 _ **Redpath grabs Rose. The Doctor kicks the door in.**_

 **DOCTOR: I think this is my dance.**

 _ **The Doctor pulls Rose away from Redpath.**_

 **DICKENS: It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence.**

"He's really trying hard to not believe what's going on in front of him." River stated.

 **DOCTOR: No, we're not. The dead are walking. Hi.**

 **ROSE: Hi. Who's your friend?**

 **DOCTOR: Charles Dickens.**

 **ROSE: Okay.**

"Does anything surprise you?" Amy asked.

"Not anymore!" Rose answered.

 **DOCTOR: My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?**

 _ **Redpath replies with several voices.**_

 **REDPATH: Failing. Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us. Argh!**

"The rift?" Jack's eyes widened. "That could have something to do with the similarities between Gwen and Gwyneth!"

River realized what was wrong with her suspicions of the alien race, and why nothing was adding up. The gas-state those beings were in wasn't their normal state. It was simply the only form they could take to exist beyond the rift while the rift was closed.

 _ **The gas leaves Redpath and his mother and returns to the gas lamp. The corpses collapse.**_

 **INT. LIVING ROOM**

 _ **Gwyneth pours tea.**_

 **ROSE: First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man.**

 _ **The Doctor smiled.**_

"What're you smiling for?!" Rose asked Nine.

"It's brilliant!" He replied.

"What's brilliant?"

"Seeing you get all riled up."

Rose's jaw clenched. "If you think that's brilliant then you're about to see genius."

Nine's face went a little slack. "Was that a veiled threat?"

"Oh, I'm threatening you directly. I will smack you, you son of a-"

"Okay! Okay!" Jack quickly got up and went over to the first couch, separating Nine and Rose by pushing their faces apart. "Let's calm down, here."

Rose grabbed the arm that was connected to the hand covering her face and twisted it. Jack yelped in both surprise and pain.

The other companions and Doctors watched, open-mouthed, at this exchange.

With a low noise in the back of her throat, Rose returned her attention to the screen, arms crossed.

Nine glanced between Rose and Jack before looking back at the screen as well.

Jack went back to his seat and cradled his hurting right arm.

 **SNEED: I won't be spoken to like this!**

 **ROSE: Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!**

"It's also useful." Twelve muttered, not wanting to be heard by Rose.

 **SNEED: It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs, the er, dear departed started getting restless.**

 **DICKENS: Tommyrot.**

"Oh, Charlie." Jack said jokingly. "You're a disappointment to us all."

 **SNEED: You witnessed it. Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps.**

 _ **Gwyneth places the Doctor's cup on the mantelpiece beside him.**_

 **GWYNETH: Two sugars, sir, just how you like it.**

 _ **The Doctor sent Gwyneth an odd look.**_

"I'm guessing you didn't tell her how you like your tea." Martha said.

 **SNEED: One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned.**

River frowned. Sometimes it seemed like they were trapped and in need of help, and other times it seemed as though they were simply there to finish their business. Either way, it didn't explain the violent behavior they were showing.

 **DICKENS: Morbid fancy.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, Charles, you were there.**

 **DICKENS: I saw nothing but an illusion.**

 **DOCTOR: If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up. What about the gas?**

The companions were a bit surprised by the Doctor's snappiness towards Dickens, but then wondered why they were. After all, the Doctor would never let his own personal enjoyments come before people's safety.

 **SNEED: That's new, sir. Never seen anything like that.**

 **DOCTOR: Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through.**

 **ROSE: What's the rift?**

 **DOCTOR: A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time.**

 **SNEED: That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations.**

 _ **Dickens slams the door as he leaves.**_

 **SNEED: Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine.**

"Great!" Clara's voice was filled with sarcasm. "Dead people are walking and causing more people to die, but at least the business isn't failing!"

 **INT. HALLWAY**

 _ **Dickens listens to the whispers from a gas lamp.**_

 **DICKENS: Impossible.**

 **INT. CHAPEL OF REST**

 _ **Dickens removes the lid of Redpath's coffin.**_

The Doctors smiled thoughtfully. At least Charles Dickens was determined.

 _ **The Doctor stands in the doorway, watching him.**_

 **DOCTOR: Checking for strings?**

 **DICKENS: Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Charles. All right. I shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures.**

 **DICKENS: I cannot accept that.**

Everyone frowned. Dickens should be changing his views to fit the facts, not changing the facts to fit his views.

 **DOCTOR: And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things. They can slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach.**

 **DICKENS: Stop it. Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?**

 **DOCTOR: Not wrong. There's just more to learn.**

 **DICKENS: I've always railed against the fantasists. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?**

Everyone looked on sadly, finally understanding the real reason as to why Dickens was unable to admit to what he saw.

 **INT. PANTRY**

 _ **Gwyneth lights the gas lamp. Rose starts the washing up.**_

 **GWYNETH: Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping. It's not right.**

 **ROSE: Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death. How much do you get paid?**

 **GWYNETH: Eight pound a year, miss.**

 **ROSE: How much?**

 **GWYNETH: I know. I would've been happy with six.**

"That was quite usual for back then, actually." Ten said to Rose.

 **ROSE: So, did you go to school or what?**

 **GWYNETH: Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper.**

 **ROSE: What, once a week?**

"Also usual for back then."

 **GWYNETH: We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second.**

 **ROSE: Me too.**

"And I think that's usual universally."

"Did you hate school?" Rose asked Ten.

"I barely passed with a fifty-one percent on my second try. It was all 'cos I kept skipping classes and running out into the fields with my friends."

Rose was a surprised at how easily the Doctor was able to talk about his past, even as a child. She supposed it must have been because he was surrounded by friends, people he knew he could trust, and would care for him.

"Blimey," Clara giggled, "I would hate to have you in my class."

 **GWYNETH: Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own.**

"Looks like that can be a regular as well!" Jack laughed.

 **ROSE: I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys.**

 **GWYNETH: Well, I don't know much about that, miss.**

"Entering dangerous conversation area, here."

 **ROSE: Come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same.**

 **GWYNETH: I don't think so, miss.**

 **ROSE: Gwyneth, you can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone.**

 **GWYNETH: I suppose. There is one lad. The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him.**

 **ROSE: I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum.**

"Knee-deep in dangerous conversation area."

 **GWYNETH: Well, I have never heard the like.**

 **ROSE: Ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start.**

 **GWYNETH: I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing.**

"Jack, whatever you're about to say, don't say it."

 **ROSE: Maybe I am. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed.**

 **GWYNETH: Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve.**

 **ROSE: Oh, I'm sorry.**

 **GWYNETH: Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss.**

"Your dad's dead?" Martha asked gently.

"Yeah." Rose said simply, not quite sure how else to reply.

A string of apologies went Rose's way.

 **ROSE: Maybe. Er, who told you he was dead?**

 **GWYNETH: I don't know. Must have been the Doctor.**

 **ROSE: My father died years back.**

 **GWYNETH: But you've been thinking about him lately more than ever.**

"Okay, that's a bit creepy." Donna said. "How's she doing that?"

 **ROSE: I suppose so. How do you know all this?**

 **GWYNETH: Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?**

 **ROSE: No, no servants where I'm from.**

 **GWYNETH: And you've come such a long way.**

Everyone aside from the obvious began to look at Gwyneth warily.

 **ROSE: What makes you think so?**

 **GWYNETH: You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame. And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness, the big bad wolf. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss.**

"There it was, again." Rose muttered, and Ten nodded.

 **ROSE: It's all right.**

 **GWYNETH: I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it.**

 **DOCTOR: But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?**

"How do you keep doing that?" Rory asked Nine.

"Doing what?" Nine asked Rory.

"Sneaking into doorways without anyone noticing."

"It's my special talent."

 **GWYNETH: All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head.**

 **DOCTOR: You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key.**

 **GWYNETH: I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, that should help. You can show us what to do.**

 **GWYNETH: What to do where, sir?**

 **DOCTOR: We're going to have a séance.**

"Those are six words I never expected to come out of your mouth in that order." Clara stated.

 **INT. LIVING ROOM**

 _ **Everyone is gathered around a table.**_

 **GWYNETH: This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town. Come, we must all join hands.**

 **DICKENS: I can't take part in this.**

 **DOCTOR: Humbug? Come on, open mind.**

 **DICKENS: This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing.**

 **DOCTOR: Now, don't antagonise her. I love a happy medium.**

"Wow."

"Oh my God."

"Seriously, Doctor?"

 **ROSE: I can't believe you just said that.**

 **DOCTOR: Come on, we might need you.**

 _ **Dickens sits down between Rose and Gwyneth.**_

Everyone smiled. Dickens also wouldn't turn his back on people who needed him, it seemed. He put others before his ideals. They all enjoyed getting to know the historical figure more.

 **DOCTOR: Good man. Now, Gwyneth, reach out.**

 **GWYNETH: Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden.**

 _ **The whispering starts.**_

 **ROSE: Can you hear that?**

 **DICKENS: Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly.**

 **ROSE: Look at her.**

 **GWYNETH: I see them. I feel them.**

 _ **Gas tendrils drift above their heads.**_

 **ROSE: What's it saying?**

 **DOCTOR: They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through.**

 **GWYNETH: I can't!**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link.**

 **GWYNETH: Yes.**

 _ **Blue outlines of people appear behind Gwyneth.**_

 **SNEED: Great God! Spirits from the other side.**

 **DOCTOR: The other side of the universe.**

 _ **The figures speak with two children's voices, and Gwyneth speaks with them.**_

 **GELTH: Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us.**

"The Gelth, of course!" River told herself. She then frowned. She never knew the Gelth to be very sweet or kind.

 **DOCTOR: What do you want us to do?**

 **GELTH: The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge.**

Rose frowned as well, remembering that that was what killed Gwyneth.

 **DOCTOR: What for?**

 **GELTH: We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction.**

River's frown became deeper. She never knew the Gelth to be very small in number either.

 **DOCTOR: Why, what happened?**

 **GELTH: Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came.**

 **DICKENS: War? What war?**

 **GELTH: The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state.**

The Doctors clenched their jaws, forced to remember how the Time War affected not only the species that were fighting in the war, but all of time and space as well. So much destruction, and for what?

 **DOCTOR: So that's why you need the corpses.**

 **GELTH: We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us.**

 **ROSE: But we can't.**

 **DOCTOR: Why not?**

 **ROSE: It's not. I mean, it's not-**

 **DOCTOR: Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives.**

"He has got a point, you know."

"How could you do that, though? That's people's family members."

"Not to mention it's disrespectful."

"I'd rather be disrespectful than the cause of a species' death."

The room split into those who favored helping the Gelth and those who didn't, each of them debating.

 **GELTH: Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth.**

 _ **The Gelth go back into the gas lamps and Gwyneth collapses across the table.**_

 **ROSE: Gwyneth?**

 **DICKENS: All true.**

 **ROSE: Are you okay?**

 **DICKENS: It's all true.**

Everyone looked on curiously. Would Dickens stick with them and help now? Or would he run off, unable to handle the truth?

 _ **A little later, Gwyneth has been laid on the chaise longue.**_

 **ROSE: It's all right. You just sleep.**

 **GWYNETH: But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?**

 **DOCTOR: They do need you, Gwyneth. You're their only chance of survival.**

There came multiple cries of "don't push her!"

 **ROSE: I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles. Drink this.**

 **SNEED: Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?**

 **DOCTOR: Aliens.**

 **SNEED: Like foreigners, you mean?**

 **DOCTOR: Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there.**

 **SNEED: Brecon?**

The companions rolled their eyes. Some people just didn't get it.

 **DOCTOR: Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes.**

 **DICKENS: Which is why they need the girl.**

 **ROSE: They're not having her.**

 **DOCTOR: But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through.**

"And die in the process." Rose mumbled. "Yeah, great."

"I never would have done it had I known." Ten whispered to Rose.

She nodded. "I know."

 **DICKENS: Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers.**

Everyone smiled at how Dickens was getting into the adventure now that he had accepted what was going on.

 **DOCTOR: Good system. It might work.**

 **ROSE: You can't let them run around inside of dead people.**

 **DOCTOR: Why not? It's like recycling.**

 **ROSE: Seriously though, you can't.**

 **DOCTOR: Seriously though, I can.**

 **ROSE: It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death.**

 **DOCTOR: Do you carry a donor card?**

 **ROSE: That's different. That's-**

 **DOCTOR: It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying.**

Lots of people were having arguments in their mind with themselves over the topic. It was a question of moralities, and it was always difficult to come up with a good solution in those moments.

 **ROSE: I don't care. They're not using her.**

 **GWYNETH: Don't I get a say, miss?**

They looked on, intrigued. This was the first time they had seen Gwyneth stand up for herself throughout the whole episode.

 **ROSE: Look, you don't understand what's going on.**

 **GWYNETH: You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid.**

Rose looked down, frowning. Was that really what she was thinking? Did she see others as stupid and inept because of their lack of experience?

 **ROSE: That's not fair.**

 **GWYNETH: It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do?**

 **DOCTOR: You don't have to do anything.**

"Oh, so _now_ you're acting all 'peacekeeper'." Jack blurted out.

 **GWYNETH: They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me.**

 **DOCTOR: We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?**

 **SNEED: That would be the morgue.**

Martha sighed. "Of course."

 **ROSE: No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?**

 **INT. MORGUE**

 **DOCTOR: Urgh. Talk about Bleak House.**

 **ROSE: The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869.**

"And now it's time for one of the Doctor's wibbly wobbly lectures about fixed points and whatnot." Amy said.

 **DOCTOR: Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing.**

 **DICKENS: Doctor, I think the room is getting colder.**

 **ROSE: Here they come.**

 _ **A Gelth comes out of a gas lamp by the door and stands under a stone archway.**_

 **GELTH: You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him.**

 **ROSE: Promise you won't hurt her.**

 **GELTH: Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth.**

The companions became wary by the fact that the Gelth ignored Rose's request.

 **DOCTOR: I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?**

"You know," Rose said to the Doctor, "you could have mentioned that earlier."

 **GWYNETH: My angels. I can help them live.**

 **DOCTOR: Okay, where's the weak point?**

 **GELTH: Here, beneath the arch.**

 **GWYNETH: Beneath the arch.**

 _ **Gwyneth stands under the arch, inside the Gelth.**_

Rose frowns and knits her eyebrows together. Didn't the Doctor say he thought Gwyneth had died the moment she stepped under the arch?

 **ROSE: You don't have to do this.**

 **GWYNETH: My angels.**

 **GELTH: Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!**

 **GWYNETH: Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!**

 **GELTH: Bridgehead establishing.**

 **GWYNETH: Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!**

 **GELTH: It is begun. The bridge is made.**

 _ **Gwyneth opens her mouth, and blue gas comes out.**_

 **GELTH: She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend.**

 _ **The blue apparition turns flame red with sharp teeth. It's voice deepens and hardens.**_

 **GELTH: The Gelth will come through in force.**

Everyone's hearts drop and their hope is replaced with dread. They had been tricked.

 **DICKENS: You said that you were few in number.**

 **GELTH: A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses.**

"Oh my God." Martha said. "It's like a zombie apocalypse."

"Yeah," Jack added, "if zombies were aliens."

 _ **The dead rise.**_

 **SNEED: Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you-**

"She can't hear you…" Rose speaks weakly.

 **ROSE: Mister Sneed, get back!**

 _ **A corpse grabs Sneed and snaps his neck. A Gelth zooms into his mouth.**_

People's breath got caught in their throats.

 **DOCTOR: I think it's gone a little bit wrong.**

"You think?" Mickey jeered.

 **SNEED: I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come, march with us.**

 **DICKENS: No.**

 **GELTH: We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead.**

"Yes, well," River said, "the Gelth never have been known for their kindness."

 **DOCTOR: Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!**

 **GELTH: Three more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth.**

 _ **Dead Sneed backs Rose and the Doctor up against a metal gate.**_

 **DICKENS: Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so-**

The companions frowned, they had hoped Dickens would be able to make it through the adventure.

 **The Doctor and Rose hide behind the metal gate, where the corpses cannot reach them.**

 **GELTH: Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth.**

 **DOCTOR: I trusted you. I pitied you!**

 **GELTH: We don't want your pity. We want this world and all it's flesh.**

 **DOCTOR: Not while I'm alive.**

"Why would you say that when you're literally about to die?" Donna asked.

 **GELTH: Then live no more.**

 _ **Dickens runs out of the house, but blue gas seeps out round the door. He runs down the street, chased by a Gelth.**_

 **ROSE: But I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?**

The companions felt bad for Rose. She didn't even really know what she had signed up for. But then again, had any of them really known when they joined the Doctor?

 **DOCTOR: I'm sorry.**

 **STREET**

 **GELTH: Failing. Atmosphere hostile.**

 _ **The Gelth dives into a nearby street lamp.**_

 **DICKENS: Gas. The gas!**

 **INT. MORGUE**

 **ROSE: But it's 1869. How can I die now?**

 **DOCTOR: Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here.**

The companions shook their heads. Of course the Doctor would blame himself.

 **ROSE: It's not your fault. I wanted to come.**

 **DOCTOR: What about me? I saw the fall of Troy, World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now I'm going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff.**

"Again with the dissing Cardiff!" Jack exclaimed.

 **ROSE: It's not just dying. We'll become one of them.**

"I think that's the most disturbing thing throughout this whole episode." Clara scrunched up her nose and her mouth formed a grimace.

 _ **Dickens runs back into Sneed's house and turns the gas lamps off then on again. He holds a handkerchief to his mouth to try and stop himself choking on the unlit town gas as he goes.**_

 **ROSE: We'll go down fighting, yeah?**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

 **ROSE: Together?**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

 _ **They hold hands.**_

Jack couldn't stop himself from grinning like the huge fanboy he was.

 **DOCTOR: I'm so glad I met you.**

 **ROSE: Me too.**

"And I'm glad I met you three." Said Eleven to his companions before giving them all a group hug.

"Oh, it'd be a shame if I didn't say I was glad to meet you all." Ten said and gave his companions hugs as well.

Twelve leaned down to whisper in Clara's ear, "I couldn't have been happier to meet you." He earned a smile and hand hold from Clara.

Nine watched all of this, smiling widely at all of his future (and present) friends.

 _ **Dickens runs in.**_

 **DICKENS: Doctor! Doctor! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!**

 **DOCTOR: What're you doing?**

 **DICKENS: Turn it all on. Flood the place!**

 **DOCTOR: Brilliant. Gas.**

"Very good idea." River complimented.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Jack asked, although he already knew the answer. He was too busy shipping the Doctor and Rose.

 **ROSE: What, so we choke to death instead?**

 **DICKENS: Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous.**

 **DOCTOR: Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!**

"Oh, that's genius!" Donna remarked.

 _ **The corpses leave the Doctor and Rose, and start shambling towards Dickens.**_

 **DICKENS: I hope, oh Lord, I hope that this theory will be validated soon, if not**

 **immediately.**

 **DOCTOR: Plenty more!**

 _ **The Doctor rips a gas pipe from the wall.**_

"My God!" Amy was shocked. "Just how strong is your ninth regeneration?"

 _ **The Gelth leave the corpses.**_

 **DICKENS: It's working.**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose come out of the alcove.**_

 **DOCTOR: Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels.**

 **GWYNETH: Liars?**

 **DOCTOR: Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!**

 **ROSE: I can't breathe.**

 **DOCTOR: Charles, get her out.**

 **ROSE: I'm not leaving her.**

Nine shook his head, annoyed. Rose's stubbornness and compassion would be the death of her, he knew it.

 **GWYNETH: They're too strong.**

 **DOCTOR: Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift.**

 **GWYNETH: I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out.**

 _ **Gwyneth takes a box of matches from her apron pocket.**_

A few hands had flung up to mouths.

"No…" Martha said quietly.

 **ROSE: You can't!**

 **GWYNETH: Leave this place!**

 **DOCTOR: Rose, get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!**

Rose looked at the TV sadly. If only the Doctor were able to stand by that statement. But it was impossible. Gwyneth was gone before they knew it.

 _ **Rose and Dickens leave.**_

 **DOCTOR: Come on, leave that to me.**

Companions' heads snapped to their Doctors.

"You wouldn't-" Clara began, but stopped because she knew all too well that she was wrong.

The Doctor would. The Doctor would do it in a heartbeat. Sacrifice himself to save somebody else? Always.

But then, what stopped him there?

 **INT. HALLWAY**

 **DICKENS: This way!**

 **INT. MORGUE**

 _ **Gwyneth doesn't move. The Doctor feels for a pulse in her neck.**_

 **DOCTOR: I'm sorry.**

"She can't be…" Martha began, but found herself having to restart her sentence. "She can't be dead, can she?"

"No, that-that doesn't make any sense." Amy said, mostly for herself.

 _ **He kisses her forehead.**_

 **DOCTOR: Thank you.**

 _ **The Doctor runs out. Gwyneth opens the box and takes out a match. The Gelth swirl around her as the Doctor runs through the house.**_

 **STREET**

 _ **The Doctor runs out of the house, which explodes immediately after.**_

 **ROSE: She didn't make it.**

 **DOCTOR: I'm sorry. She closed the rift.**

 **DICKENS: At such a cost. The poor child.**

 **DOCTOR: I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes.**

"But how? What killed her?" Mickey asked.

No one had an answer.

 **ROSE: What do you mean?**

 **DOCTOR: I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch.**

The Gelth. The Gelth had killed her.

 **ROSE: But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?**

 **DICKENS: There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor.**

 **ROSE: She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know.**

"Not anymore." Jack said, determined. "I'll be sure to put Gwyneth into the archives."

"And I'll tell Kate Stewart about her, and have her put into the UNIT database." Clara added.

Rose nodded. "Thank you."

"It's the least we can do." Jack said.

 **EXT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long.**

 **ROSE: What are you going to do now?**

 **DICKENS: I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital.**

Everyone smiled, happy to see Charles Dickens feeling well.

 **DOCTOR: You've cheered up.**

 **DICKENS: Exceedingly! This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them.**

 **ROSE: Do you think that's wise?**

 **DICKENS: I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth.**

"Hang on," Martha said, "I don't remember ever hearing of that."

"Unfortunately," Ten told her, "he was never able to get around to publishing the story."

"What a shame…" Martha said.

"A shame, indeed."

 **DOCTOR: Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic.**

 **ROSE: Bye, then, and thanks.**

 _ **Rose shakes Dickens' hand then kisses his cheek.**_

 **DICKENS: Oh, my dear. How modern. Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?**

 **DOCTOR: You'll see. In the shed.**

"Are you actually going to show him?" Donna asked the Doctor.

"I'd say he's seen enough to not freak out."

 **DICKENS: Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you?**

There were various answers to this.

"An elephant in a leather jacket."

"An idiot from far, far away."

"Casanova."

Etc.

 **DOCTOR: Just a friend passing through.**

"I liked mine better." Jack said.

 **DICKENS: But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, yes!**

 **DICKENS: For how long?**

 **DOCTOR: Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Rose.**

 **DICKENS: In the box? Both of you?**

 **DOCTOR: Down boy. See you.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **ROSE: Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?**

 **DOCTOR: In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story.**

 **ROSE: Oh, no. He was so nice.**

 **DOCTOR: But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy.**

"The joys of time travel." Nine enthused.

 **DOCTOR: Let's give him one last surprise.**

 **EXT. TARDIS**

 _ **The TARDIS dematerialized. Charles Dickens, astonished, begins to laugh, then walks away.**_

 **MAN: Merry Christmas, sir.**

 **DICKENS: Merry Christmas to you. God bless us, every one!**

Everyone was left with wide smiles on their faces as the episode ended.

However, it wasn't long before the screen lit up again.

" **NEXT TIME"**

 **BIG BEN**

 _ **The wing of a spaceship takes a chunk out of Big Ben.**_

"Either they're really bad at driving or someone's got even less control over their spaceship than the Doctor." River decided.

 **RIVER THAMES**

 _ **The spaceship crashes into the Thames.**_

 **TYLER FLAT**

 **TV REPORTER: Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London.**

"Oh, I remember this day." Mickey said. "I remember it as 'the day my name switched from Murderer to Rickey.'"

 **EXT. TARDIS**

 _ **Police cars and helicopters surround Rose, the Doctor, and Mickey.**_

 **POLICE: You are under arrest! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your head.**

"Oh, sweetie, what did you do this time?" River asked, exasperated.

"Nothing!" Eleven claimed. "I didn't do anything!"

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **ROSE: What is it, then? Are they invading?**

 **MICKEY: Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert.**

"Mickey the idiot," Nine said, "that's probably the smartest thing I've heard come from your mouth."

"Uh...thanks?" Mickey said, partially confused.

 **INT. CABINET**

 **ASQUITH: By God, I'll put this country under marshal law if I have to.**

 _ **The scene switches to a woman and a man unzipping their foreheads, white light beaming through.**_

Martha's face scrunched up. "What the hell?"

"It's nasty." Was all Mickey had to say.

 **INT. MEETING ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Defense plan delta. Come on. Move! Move!**

 **INT. ALBION HOSPITAL**

 _ **The soldiers move throughout the hospitals, checking into different rooms.**_

 _ **A woman shrouded in blue lighting screams.**_

 **INT. CABINET**

 _ **Harriet Jones gapes, looking through a door as a man screams and is killed. She closes her eyes and looks away.**_

"Right," Rose said, "well if we want lighthearted then we know what not to watch."

"Yeah," Rory agreed, "this one doesn't look very fun. Lots of death it seems."

With their not-very-upbeat attitude about the next episode, everyone turned their attention back to the TV.

 **I should warn you, the next chapter probably won't be up for at least a day or two. I've got to really buckle down and focus on school work for the next three days.**


	5. The Curse of the Black Spot

**I have been given the wonderful idea by a reader to throw in some random stand-alone episodes out of order. Just to spice things up a bit. I think it'd be very good for the characters to have some more variety in what they're watching, and for them to get to know other characters as well. I'm going to randomly put one stand-alone episode in each season for the characters to watch. This chapter will be the stand-alone episode for this season.**

Just as the TV lit up again, it began to glitch. The television emitted weird noises along with static. Then, the "error" screen and noise began.

"What's going on with the TV?" Jack wondered.

The tenth Doctor tried sonicing the TV, only to have his sonic spark, making him drop it.

"What was that?" He asked, clearly confused. He gingerly picked up his sonic, making sure not to hold it too close to his face, but checking to see that it was okay. "Looks like someone doesn't want me scanning the TV."

The television went black, then started up again.

 _ **A group of seventeenth-century men row back to their ship.**_

"What's happened here?" Twelve asked.

"That is most definitely not twenty-first century London." Mickey said.

Everyone wondered what the television was showing them, seeing as it wasn't the episode shown on the "next time" trailer.

 **ON DECK**

 **BOATSWAIN: What's wrong?**

 **MILLIGAN: Man wounded.**

 **BOATSWAIN: Wake him.**

 **INT. CAPTAIN'S CABIN**

"What's with all the treasures lying about?" Jack asked, before realizing. "Wait, no, don't tell me-" Jack grinned and his face lit up "-they're pirates!"

 **BOATSWAIN: He slipped in the bilge water, Cap'n and fell onto the rigger. His hand. I don't know if he'll survive.**

"Unless his hand got cut off or something similar, there's a pretty good chance he'll survive as long as it doesn't get infected." Martha said, wondering what kind of injury the man had.

 _ **The Captain turns and looks at the tiny cut on the man's middle finger.**_

"Are you serious? That's it?" Mickey was surprised at how dramatic the pirates were being over a tiny little cut on someone's finger.

 **AVERY: You're a dead man, McGrath.**

Martha scoffs and says sarcastically, "yeah, totally dead."

 _ **His other hand has a black spot on the palm.**_

Amy gasped. "I know what this is!"

"Yeah," Rory chimed in, "this is one of our adventures, isn't it?"

This excited lots of people who wanted to learn more about the different Doctors and companions.

 **AVERY: Same as all the others.**

The sentence made everyone wonder how long whatever this was had been going on.

 _ **A woman's voice starts singing.**_

"That's beautiful…" Rose said.

Clara hummed in agreement.

Everyone sat back and enjoyed the sound of the singing for a moment.

 **AVERY: She's here.**

 **BOATSWAIN: Oh, save our souls.**

 **McGRATH: I've got to escape!**

 **BOATSWAIN: Don't go out there! McGrath, don't listen, for God's sake. The siren is a-calling.**

"Siren?" Rose asked, intrigued about the new creature.

 _ **McGrath grabs a gun and runs out onto the deck. Captain Avery locks himself and his crew into his cabin. The singing stops, there is a scream and then silence.**_

One question went through everyone's (besides Amy, Rory, Eleven and Twelve, of course) head: what did the siren do to people?

 **ON DECK**

 _ **Captain Avery picks up his gun.**_

 **AVERY: Same as all the others. No sign of a struggle, no bones or blood.**

 **BOATSWAIN: We're shark bait, every single one of us. Stuck on the ocean, waiting.**

"Stuck?" Donna questioned.

 **AVERY: Until the wind changes.**

 _ **There is a thumping from below decks.**_

 **AVERY: What's that?**

 **BOATSWAIN: It's the creature. It's returned.**

 _ **The hatch to the hold bursts open.**_

 **DOCTOR: Yo ho ho!**

Amy shook her limp head with her face in her hand and Rory took a deep breath.

The Doctor could be such a child sometimes.

Others looked on in pity. This must be a regular occurrence.

 **DOCTOR: Or does nobody actually say that?**

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

"Huh, it looks different." Rory noticed.

" **THE CURSE OF THE BLACK SPOT"**

 **AVERY: We made no signal.**

 **DOCTOR: Our sensors picked you up. Ship in distress.**

"I don't think they've got sensors yet." Clara told Eleven.

"I figured it out...eventually." Eleven said.

 **AVERY: Sensors?**

 **DOCTOR: Yes. Okay, problem word. Seventeenth century. My ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother.**

"I don't think they have sentient ships either." It was Jack who spoke this time.

 **AVERY: That big blue crate?**

 **BOATSWAIN: That is more magic, Captain Avery. They're spirits. How else would they have found their way below decks?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, er, I want to say multidimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won't go there.**

"Does your Doctor usually have trouble convincing people?" Donna asked Amy.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you and Rory look like you're getting ready to walk the plank."

 **DOCTOR: Look, I'm the Doctor. This is Amy, Rory. We're sailors, same as you.**

 _ **Captain Avery pulls out a gun and aims it at the Doctor.**_

"Yeah," Amy said critically and a bit angered, "they're not sailors."

 **DOCTOR: Ooh ar. Except for the gun thing. And the beardiness.**

 **AVERY: You're stowaways. Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed.**

 **BOATSWAIN: Now what do we do with 'em?**

 **AVERY: Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality.**

"If only." Rory muttered.

 **ON DECK**

 _ **The Doctor is being forced to walk the plank.**_

"You know, last time I checked," Eleven said, "hospitality and forcing people to get out were two opposite things."

 **DOCTOR: I suppose that laughing like that is in the job description. Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard.**

 **AVERY: Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need three more empty bellies to fill. Take the doxy below to the galley. Set her to work. She won't need much feeding.**

They all shook their heads in disbelief of how rude and uncaring some people could be.

 **AMY: Rory? A little help?**

 _ **Rory is being held by Dancer.**_

"I think Rory's a bit tied up." Jack said.

 **RORY: Yeah. Hey, listen, right? She's not a doxy.**

 **AMY: I didn't mean just tell him off. Thanks anyway.**

 **AVERY: If you're lucky you'll drown before the sharks can take a bite.**

 **DOCTOR: If this is just because I'm a captain too, you know, you shouldn't feel threatened. Your ship is much bigger than mine.**

All the Doctors laughed at that. As though a ship from seventeenth century Earth would be bigger than his TARDIS.

 **DOCTOR: And I don't have the cool boots. Or a hat, even.**

"Oh, you and your love of hats." Amy muttered.

"Well, not all hats." Eleven said. "Just the cool ones. You know, the ones that are always getting murdered by River."

 **AVERY: Time to go.**

 **DOCTOR: A bit more laughter, guys?**

Nine and Ten had been watching their future self intently, and so far the most prominent thing about him was how he subtly used his playful nature to his advantage.

 _ **Amy has gone to the hold and found a crate of cutlasses as well as a pirate coat and hat.**_

Everyone grinned, understanding what Amy was up to.

 **DOCTOR: Where are the rest of the crew? This is a big ship. Big for five of you. I suppose the rest of them are hiding some place, and they're going to jump out and shout boo.**

 **AMY: Boo!**

 _ **Amy has taken the time to don a coat and tricorn hat.**_

"Oh, so I'm about to die over here and what do you do? You go out roleplaying." Eleven teased Amy.

"And saving your butt." She retorted.

 **AMY: Throw the gun down.**

 _ **Avery obeys. She kicks it away.**_

 **AMY: The rest of you, on your knees.**

 **DOCTOR: Amy, what are you doing?**

 **AMY: Saving your life. Okay with that, are you?**

 **AVERY: Put down the sword. A sword could kill us all, girl.**

 **AMY: Yeah, thanks. That is actually why I'm pointing it at you.**

Everyone looked on, suspicious. Amy wouldn't really kill anyone, would she?

 _ **The rest of the sailors start a sword fight with Amy, using wooden staves, while Avery holds on to the Doctor. However, the sailors are terrified of getting even the smallest cut from Amy's blade. Amy runs up some steps then swings across on a rope, slashing at a sailor as she goes.**_

 **DANCER: You have killed me.**

 **AMY: No way. It's just a cut.**

 _ **The black spot appears on his palm.**_

Everyone felt bad for the man, but they couldn't bring themselves to be mad at Amy. After all, she didn't know that it would kill him.

 **AMY: What kind of rubbish pirates are you?**

"Not easily impressed, I see." Jack said.

 **AVERY: One drop, that's all it takes. One drop of blood and she'll rise out of the ocean.**

 **AMY: Come on, I barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?**

 _ **Amy makes another swing when one of the pirates runs towards her and is grabbed. She drops the cutlass which slightly slashes Rory's hand.**_

 **RORY: Ow! Argh!**

Rory curled up the hand that had been cut, as though it still stung.

"Hold up," Mickey said, "does that mean Rory's on the hit list now?"

"Yeah," Rory replied, "it wasn't the best of times."

 **The black spot appears.**

 **RORY: Er, Doctor, what's happening to me?**

 **AVERY: She can smell the blood on your skin. She's marked you for death.**

 **RORY: She?**

 **AVERY: A demon, out there in the ocean.**

 **DOCTOR: Okay. Groovy. So not just pirates today. We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in. Very efficient. I mean, if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you.**

Rose stared at the screen, wondering why the hell the Doctor wasn't more worried about the fact that one of his companions was going to die.

 _ **The siren's singing starts.**_

 **BOATSWAIN: Quickly now, block out the sound.**

 **RORY: What?**

 **AVERY: The creature. She charms all her victims with that song.**

 **RORY: Oh, great. So put my fingers in my ears, that's your plan? Doctor, come on. Let's go. Let's get back to the er, back to the er-**

People's eyebrows knit together, wondering why Rory was suddenly unable to form complete sentences.

 _ **Rory and Dancer start giggling.**_

 **BOATSWAIN: The music. It's working on him. Look.**

 **RORY: You are so beautiful.**

 **AMY: What?**

"I think you're supposed to say 'thank you.'" Jack teased.

Amy rolled her eyes.

 **RORY: I love your get up. That's great. You should dress as a pirate more often. Hey, hey, cuddle me, shipmate.**

Jack laughed. "Cuddle? I don't think pirates cuddle."

 **AMY: Rory, stop.**

 **RORY: Everything is totally brilliant, isn't it? Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant beards. I'd like a beard. I'm going to grow a beard.**

Jack nearly choked.

 **AMY: You're not.**

Rory rubbed his chin. "I wonder what I'd look like with a beard."

"Don't even think about it." Amy ordered him.

 **AVERY: The music turns them into fools.**

 **AMY: Oh, my God.**

 _ **A bright light is rising up through the water.**_

"The siren?" Martha asked Amy, who nodded.

 _ **A female figure then flies up and gently lands on the deck.**_

Everyone watched intently, wondering what exactly the siren was going to do.

"She looks like a ghost." Rose said.

 _ **Dancer goes towards her while Amy tries to hold Rory back. When Dancer touches her finger, he explodes in a cloud of soot.**_

"Okay, but, how does she do that?" Rory wondered.

"I think the more important question, Pond, is 'why does she do that?'" Eleven educated Rory on the finer issues at hand.

"Bow-tie-me is right," Ten said, "does she simply enjoy killing people-"

"-or does she have an ulterior motive? Spot on, skinny me." Twelve said.

"Thank you, oldest me." Ten replied.

 **RORY: I have to touch her. Let me touch her.**

 **AMY: Sorry, but he is spoken for.**

 _ **The Siren turns from green to angry red.**_

"Wrong thing to say, wrong thing to say!" Jack slightly panicked.

 _ **A blast of energy throws Amy backwards.**_

 **DOCTOR: Amy! Everybody into the hold. Rory! Come on!**

 _ **The Doctor drags Rory away.**_

 **RORY: Hey! Wait!**

"Hmm…" River contemplated.

"Something you want to share with the rest of the class?" Clara, ever the teacher, asked.

"It's hard to save someone who doesn't want to be saved." River spoke her thoughts aloud.

Everyone frowned deeply thinking about this, and wondered just how many people would die this episode.

 **INT. HOLD**

 _ **There is bilge water a few inches deep.**_

 **AMY: What is that thing?**

 **AVERY: The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured.**

 **BOATSWAIN: Like a shark. A shark can smell blood.**

 **DOCTOR: Okay. Just like a shark, in a dress. And singing. And green? A green singing shark in an evening gown.**

Everyone burst out laughing at the eleventh Doctor's description of the creature. Some of them tried to imagine exactly what a green shark would look like in an evening gown and how it would sound singing, making them laugh even more.

 **AVERY: The ship is cursed!**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, right. Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things are happening but you can't be bothered to find an explanation.**

"That's...that's fair." Martha decided.

 **RORY: She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.**

Rory sighed heavily, still feeling bad about what he had said. "Amy, I am so sorr-"

"Oh, shut up, stupid." His wife replied immediately, "I know you weren't exactly in control of yourself at the time."

 **AMY: Actually, I think you'll find she isn't.**

 **RORY: She is.**

 **AMY: We have to leave right now.**

 **AVERY: That thing of yours really is a ship?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, it's not propelled by the wind.**

"Nope." Clara said. "I'd say the energy from the Eye of Harmony is much more efficient."

Those who didn't know what the Eye of Harmony was didn't bother questioning. Either they'd find out later or it wasn't that important.

 **AVERY: Show me. Weigh anchor. Make it sail.**

 **DOCTOR: And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing, aren't you.**

Nine and Ten felt reassured in knowing that the man who claimed to be their future self still wasn't a fan of guns. Just knowing that little piece of information made them all the more comfortable with their future self.

 **DOCTOR: Freud would say you're compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa.**

 **DE FLORRES: Leave the cursed one, Captain. The creature can have him.**

"I don't like him." Twelve said bluntly, then asked when he saw Clara sighing. "Do you like him?"

"No, but you don't like anyone." Clara teased.

 _Except for your companions._ The unspoken words were left hanging in the air between them.

 **RORY: Yes, please.**

 **AVERY: We don't want the siren coming after us.**

 _ **Something latches onto Mulligan's bare leg.**_

 **AMY: It's a leech!**

Everyone held their breath, knowing Mulligan would be the next victim.

 **DOCTOR: Everyone out of the water!**

 **DE FLORRES: It's bitten me. I'm bleeding!**

 **DOCTOR: She wants blood. Why does she want blood?**

 **AMY: What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?**

 **DOCTOR: It's okay, we're safe down here. No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber.**

 _ **The Siren appears to have jumped up through three solid inches of timber.**_

"Well, so much for that." Ten muttered.

"I think you're a bit rusty on your curses, chinny." Donna told Eleven.

"Chinny?" Eleven questioned while Clara laughed.

"What's so funny?" Eleven asked Clara.

"S-sorry, it's just," Clara contained her giggles, "I used to always call you that."

Eleven sighed but grinned at his future companion. Although he couldn't bear the thought of the Ponds leaving him, he was happy to learn more about Clara. She seemed nice enough, if not a little straightforward, but she must be amazing if he chose her to travel with him out of seven billion people.

 **DOCTOR: Oh! Ah. Hello again.**

 _ **De Florres is drawn towards her.**_

 **ALL: No! No! No!**

Some people muttered the same thing under their breath.

 _ **De Florres explodes, just leaving his hat behind.**_

 _ **The rest of them exit the hold and enter another room.**_

 **INT. MESS DECK**

 **AMY: Safe?**

 **DOCTOR: I have my good days and my bad days.**

 **AVERY: How did she get in?**

"Yeah, Doc, how did she get in?" Jack repeated. "She didn't fly through the wood, I'm guessing."

"Not through the wood, no." River said. "Did you see how she appeared? She wasn't flying like before. Before was a slow, gentle, pace. This time it was rapid," she snapped her fingers, "with an equally rapid halt. It's almost as if she teleported."

Jack eyed River. "River, have you ever thought of-"

"I'm not joining your fan club, Jack."

"I wasn't talking about my-"

"Or your alien-fighting club."

"It's not a-"

"You can stop right there, Harkness."

 **DOCTOR: Bilge water. She's using water like a portal, a door. She can materialise through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water.**

 **AMY: Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean.**

Donna laughed. "Loving the sarcasm."

 **RORY: Did you see her eyes? Like crystal pools.**

 **AMY: You are in enough trouble.**

 **AVERY: The magazine.**

 **AMY: What?**

 **DOCTOR: He means the armory where the powder's stored.**

 **AVERY: It's dry as a bone.**

 **DOCTOR: Good. Let's go there.**

 **AVERY: I give the orders.**

Twelve scoffed. "We'd all be dead if that were the case."

 **DOCTOR: Ah. Worried because I'm wearing a hat now?**

"Wish I could shoot the stupid thing off from here." River shook her head at Eleven's silliness.

"Shoot?" Nine asked.

"Oh, don't tell me you carry a gun." Ten whined.

River pulled out her mentioned weapon. "Just in case." She sent a warning glance at Captain Jack.

Nine and Ten looked disapprovingly at Eleven. Eleven sent them a look, as though to say, "just you wait."

 **DOCTOR: Nobody touch anything sharp!**

 **AMY: Come on, Rory.**

 _ **The Boatswain shuffles through his collection of keys.**_

 **AVERY: Quickly, man.**

 **BOATSWAIN: I can't find the key. Tis gone, Cap'n.**

 **AVERY: How can it have gone?**

 _ **The Doctor pushes the door open.**_

 **DOCTOR: Someone else had the same idea.**

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **AVERY: Barricade the door. Careful of that lantern. Every barrel is full of powder.**

 **DOCTOR: Who's been sleeping in my gun room?**

"Your gun room?" Mickey joked. "Since when did you become a pirate, Doctor?"

"I sailed around the Caribbean on a pirate galleon back when I was two-hundred and ninety-six!" Eleven informed Mickey proudly. "Ahh, how it was to be young…"

Donna sent an odd look to Eleven first, and then Ten, not having known just how old the Doctor was.

 _ **Someone coughs. Avery opens a barrel and pulls out a boy.**_

 **AVERY: You fool! You fool, boy. What are you doing here?**

Most people in the room looked on, confused. Did the Captain know the boy?

 **DOCTOR: Who is he? What, he's not one of the crew?**

 **AVERY: No. He's my son. What in God's name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you.**

 _ **The look on the boy's face said it all.**_

 **AVERY: When?**

 **TOBY: Last winter. Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy. An honourable man, she said. How I'd be proud to know you. I've come to join your crew.**

Everyone looked on at the boy in pity. For both the loss of his mother and the ignorance about his father.

 **AVERY: I don't want you here.**

"Bit harsh." Clara noted.

 **TOBY: You can't send me back. It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home.**

 **AVERY: It's dangerous here. There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin.**

 **TOBY: The black spot?**

Except for those who were there, everyone's eyes widened at the thought of the child being marked for death.

 _ **Toby has one on his palm. He coughs again. Later...**_

 **AVERY: There's nothing wrong with the boy. He has no scars.**

"Hold up. But then why is the siren after him?" Mickey asked.

"Spoilers."

 **DOCTOR: Yep. Ignore my last theory.**

 **AMY: He has his good days and his bad days.**

"You're having a lot more screw-up moments than usual," River noted, raising her eyebrow. "Are you sure you're having your hour of sleep every three weeks?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know, who needs sleep when there's adventure?" Eleven asked excitedly. "Besides, it's not your job to nanny me."

"You're right." River said. "It's Clara who usually does that."

Clara was a bit surprised at how she knew that, but nevertheless gave River a grin.

Eleven, meanwhile, put "bossy/over-protective" on his checklist about Clara.

 **DOCTOR: It's not just blood, she's coming for all the sick and wounded, like a hunter chooses the weakest animal.**

"Ah, brilliant." Clara's sarcasm was evident. "So, if you've so much as got the sniffles, you're dead."

 **AMY: Okay, look, he's got a fever. The siren knows it.**

 **DOCTOR: Humans. Second-rate. Damage too easily. It's only a matter of time before everyone gets bruised.**

"So in conclusion," Rose began, "you're basically saying we're from the universe's thrift shop."

The humans in the room gave Eleven the stink eye, who shrank in his seat.

 **DOCTOR: My ship, it can sail us all away from here. You and me, we fetch it. Let's go.**

"You have got to remember that Captain Avery still thinks he's in charge." Clara said like she's had to tell her students one too many times to quiet down. "You're going to end up with a bullet in your body."

 **AVERY: You're not the Captain here, remember.**

 _ **Toby opens a fresh-water barrel and the Siren's hand reaches out. The Doctor forces the lid back down.**_

 **AVERY: The water's dangerous. That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man.**

 **BOATSWAIN: We're all cursed if we stay aboard.**

 **DOCTOR: It's not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we're helpless. We are not helpless.**

The companions nodded. Only until they were dead were they truly helpless.

 **DOCTOR: Captain, what's our next move?**

 **AVERY: Wait with the boy.**

Everyone gave a half-smile. At least the pirate captain cared for family.

 **BOATSWAIN: Captain, we're all in danger here.**

 **AVERY: I said wait. And barricade the door after we've gone.**

 **AMY: Sure you want to go?**

 **DOCTOR: We have to get Rory and Toby away. She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese.**

"Do they have cheese under the sea?" Mickey joked.

Eleven sighed. "Oh, Mickey, Mickey, Mickey. You should know not to take everything I say so literally."

Suddenly, an "oof" was heard. River had just whacked Jack with a pillow, annoyed at him for singing The Little Mermaid's "Under The Sea" even under his breath.

 **AMY: Okay. Well, remember, if you get an itch, don't scratch too hard.**

 **DOCTOR: We've all got to go some time. There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid.**

"At least it's quick…" Rose mumbled.

"Do you know what a mermaid is, Doctor? Because from what you just said, it seems like you need refreshing." Donna told Eleven.

"Not literal!" Eleven defended.

 **INT. MESS DECK**

 **AVERY: Do you want to draw lots for who's in charge, then?**

 **DOCTOR: Darkness? Demon? You can have first go.**

 _ **Avery stumbles and nearly puts his hand on a protruding nail head. The Doctor grabs his arm just in time.**_

 **AVERY: Nearly. Phew!**

"Good save." Amy whispered, mainly to herself, letting out a breath with everyone else.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **AVERY: By all the-**

 **DOCTOR: Let me stop you there. Bigger on the inside.**

Ten and Nine made a noise indicating their disgust. Something along the lines of "eeuuugh."

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"The desktop theme!" Ten cried out.

"It's horrible!" Nine jumped in.

"Oi!" Eleven shouted at them. "Don't diss the new TARDIS! She picked this one out herself."

Nine and Ten immediately shut up, but still ridiculed the TARDIS' taste for interior design in their heads.

When the earlier Doctor's shocked statements about the new console died down, Clara decided to pipe up. "I never knew you had another console design in your eleventh regeneration."

"You mean I switch it up again?" Eleven asked Clara, who answered yes.

Eleven leaned away from River, hoping that she wouldn't hear. "What's it look like?" He whisper-asked Clara.

Before she could answer he felt a smack on his head, exclaimed "ow," and turned back to his original sitting position.

"Don't spoil the surprise, sweetie." River said, having heard all.

 **DOCTOR: Don't mind, do you, if we just skip to the end of that moment? Oh, and sorry I lied, by the way, when I said yours was bigger. Kitchen that way. Choice of bathrooms there, there, there.**

Mickey chuckled. The Doctor sure does like showing off his TARDIS.

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **RORY: What's wrong?**

 **AMY: The most beautiful thing you've ever seen?**

 **RORY: Oh, tell me I didn't really say that.**

Amy grabbed Rory's hand, non-verbally telling him that it was ok; he had no reason to feel bad.

 **AMY: What's going on?**

 **The Boatswain is un-barricading the door.**

Nine huffed, annoyed. "Why don't people ever listen to directions?"

 **BOATSWAIN: We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain's gone soft. It's time for us to leave.**

Twelve scoffed, crossing his arms. "Pudding brains."

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **AVERY: What's this do?**

 **DOCTOR: That does very, very complicated. That does sophisticated. That does whoa, amazing, And that does whizz, bang, far too technical to explain!**

"Those are adjectives, Doctor, not verbs." Martha playfully informed him.

"Yes, well, how do you expect me to explain the TARDIS controls to a seventeenth-century pirate?" Eleven said in his own defense.

 **AVERY: Wheel?**

 **DOCTOR: Atom accelerator.**

 **AVERY: It steers the thing.**

 **DOCTOR: No. Sort of. Yes.**

 **AVERY: Wheel. Telescope. Astrolabe. Compass. A ship's a ship.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh.**

The Doctors huffed, annoyed at someone else understanding the TARDIS controls so easily, while Martha laughed.

"I'd say he gets the TARDIS controls pretty well on his own, actually."

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **TOBY: He told you to wait, you dog. He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honour-bound to do as he tells you.**

 **BOATSWAIN: Honour-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?**

 **AMY: Don't listen to him, Toby.**

 **BOATSWAIN: We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger.**

 **TOBY: Liar! He's no wicked pirate!**

 **BOATSWAIN: Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men.**

Everyone felt bad for Toby. The boy was bound to find out somehow, rightly too, but it shouldn't have been like that.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: This is how the professionals do it.**

River rolled her eyes at the Doctor's boasting.

 _ **The time rotor stutters.**_

The companions let out some spluttered laughter.

"Professional, huh Doc?" Jack wheezed.

"You can't even start your own ship!" Martha began teasing the Doctor as well.

"This is an all-new low for you." Amy joined in.

Rose and Clara were wiping away tears, and all four Doctors' faces began to tint a shade of red.

 **DOCTOR: Er, it's stuck. Not responding.**

 **AVERY: Becalmed?**

 **DOCTOR: Mmm hmm. Yeah, apparently. That's new. You had to gloat, didn't you?**

 **AVERY: I'm not gloating.**

 **DOCTOR: I saw that look just now. Ha, ha, his ship is rubbish.**

 **AVERY: True.**

All the companions held back another wave of laughter.

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **BOATSWAIN: Get what treasure you can. I'll meet you in the row boat.**

 _ **Toby has found a cutlass.**_

 **TOBY: You're going to remain at your post.**

They all held their breath and watched intently.

 **BOATSWAIN: I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down.**

 **TOBY: One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard.**

 **BOATSWAIN: You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy.**

 **TOBY: Don't need to, do I.**

 _ **Toby cuts the Boatswain's hand.**_

"Oh, Toby, no…" Ten's voice filled with disappointment.

 **BOATSWAIN: No**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: It can't get a lock on the plane.**

 **AVERY: The what?**

 **DOCTOR: The space we travel in. The ocean. Sort of ocean but not water. The Tardis can't see. It's sulking because it thinks the space doesn't exist. Without a plane to lock onto we're not going anywhere.**

 **AVERY: I'm confused.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, well, it's a big club. We should get T-shirts.**

"What," Clara began, "are we going to get some 'Doctor' and 'Companion' shirts?"

"Or better yet," Amy said, "those shirts that say 'if found please return to blank' and 'I'm blank.'"

"Okay, but who would wear what?" Martha asked.

"Obviously, the Doctors would wear the 'if found' shirts."

"Are you kidding?" Nine asked. "If anyone wanders off all the time it's you lot."

 _ **There is a lot of shaking and distorted noise from the engine.**_

 **DOCTOR: What's happening?**

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **BOATSWAIN: You little swabber!**

 **AMY: Congratulations. You made it to the menu. Probably shouldn't go out there now.**

 **BOATSWAIN: You scurvy ape!**

 **RORY: Don't shoot. The powder will blow and kill us all.**

 _ **Mulligan takes the keys from the Boatswain's belt.**_

 **BOATSWAIN: Mulligan, what are you doing?**

 _ **Mulligan leaves.**_

 **AMY: No honour among pirates.**

 _ **The Boatswain puts down his pistol and starts rebuilding the barricade.**_

"Well, there's one problem fixed." River said, looking on the bright side.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Okay, she's had her little sulk.**

"Well, that must be good. The bad part's over with." Rose said.

 **DOCTOR: Now she's heading for the full-on screaming tantrum.**

"Or maybe not."

 **AVERY: Can you fix it?**

 **DOCTOR: Argh! The parametric engines are jammed. Orthogonal vector's gone. I'm almost out of ideas.**

 **AVERY: Almost?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, we could try stroking her and singing her a song.**

"That's something you do in your past-time," Amy said to Eleven, "not while the TARDIS is going haywire."

 **AVERY: Will that help?**

 **DOCTOR: Hard to say. Never has before. I've lost control of her. She's about to dematerialise. We could end up anywhere!**

 **AVERY: That sounds bad!**

"Dangerous."

"Definitely not good."

"Awful."

"Really?" Clara butted in. "I was going to say exciting."

"Well, usually I would say so too," Eleven said, "but considering the circumstances, it wasn't the ideal time for a whole new adventure."

Clara shrugged. She supposed he was right, but she could never pass up the opportunity for new adventure. Besides, what were time machines for if not to go back and forth between one time and the next?

 **DOCTOR: Yes, it is! Out! Out now! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!**

 _ **They run out as the TARDIS dematerializes.**_

 **EXT. TARDIS**

 _ **A green light envelops the TARDIS as it dematerializes.**_

"That's definitely not normal." Mickey said.

"It looks like the same light around the siren." Clara noticed.

"Good catch." Eleven said to Clara, then to himself. "So that's when it happened."

"When what happened?"

"Oh! Er, um, spoilers."

 **DOCTOR: Okay, okay, okay. Tardis runs off on its own. That's a bit of a new one. Bang goes our only hope of getting them out of here.**

 **AVERY: Not much of a Captain without a ship, are you?**

 **INT. MESS DECK**

 _ **Mulligan pulls two pistols on his captain. He has a jewelled gold crown around his wrist.**_

 **AVERY: Mulligan, what are you doing? This is mutiny.**

 **MULLIGAN: She doesn't want me. She only wants Toby and the scrawny looking fellow.**

 **DOCTOR: He's got the last of the supplies. We should go after him.**

 **AVERY: Never mind the damned supplies. What about my treasure?**

Nine rolled his eyes. He had been for the most part completely fine with Captain Avery until that point. A man who cared more about treasure than his and other's lives was a deal-breaker in his book.

 _ **Mulligan shoots at them.**_

 **DOCTOR: Don't get injured. Don't get injured.**

 **INT. STORE ROOM**

 **AVERY [OC]: Come out of there, you mutinous dog!**

 _ **Mulligan lights a flame, then drops it when it burns his fingers.**_

Jack drew out a long sigh. "And there goes another one…"

 **EXT. STORE ROOM**

 _ **The Siren begins singing and the Doctor and Avery check themselves for any sign of injury. A green light begins to glow from behind the store room door.**_

 **DOCTOR: She's inside.**

 **AVERY: She's come for Mulligan.**

 _ **Mulligan, inside the store room, screams.**_

 **INT. STORE ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor and Avery enter.**_

 **AVERY: No water in here. How did she take him? You said she uses water like a door, that's how she enters a room.**

"Ah, so the Doctor was wrong yet again." Mickey teased.

"Quiet, Rickey." Nine ordered.

"Hey," Mickey snapped at Nine, "you're not my boss, got it? Despite what you think, I can be just as helpful at saving the world as the rest of your little munchkins, you'll see."

"Oh, I'm sure I will." Nine's sarcasm was as clear as day.

The other Doctors frowned. It seemed like they were a bit too judgemental of Mickey and harsh on him when they first started to know each other.

 _ **Avery picks up the crown.**_

 **DOCTOR: I was wrong. Please ignore all my theories up to this point.**

 **AVERY: What, again?**

 **DOCTOR: We're all in danger. The water's not how she's getting in. When we were down in the hold, think what happened. You, me, Amy, Rory, leeches.**

 **AVERY: She sprang from the water.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, only when it grew still. Still water. Nature's mirror.**

"Ohhh." Everyone began to understand what the Doctor was getting at.

 **AVERY: So, you mean**

 **DOCTOR: Yes. Not water, reflection.**

 _ **Toby has a medallion his father has given him, of a mermaid. A nice shiny medallion, which he starts polishing.**_

"Oh dear, not good, bad choice." Jack began rambling out negativities.

 **DOCTOR: That siren legend. The curse.**

 **AVERY: You said curses weren't real.**

 **DOCTOR: Folklore springs from truth. She attacks ships filled with treasure. Where else do you get a perfect reflection?**

 **AVERY: Polished metal.**

 **DOCTOR: Hmm.**

 _ **He hides the crown under a piece of clothing.**_

 **AVERY: We must warn them.**

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Amy! Open the door!**

 **AVERY [OC]: Toby, open the door! Toby!**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Open the door.**

 **AVERY [OC]: Toby!**

 _ **Amy and Rory remove the barrels blocking the door and the Doctor and Avery come in. The Doctor grabs the medallion and breathes on it to cloud the reflection.**_

"That must have been kind of odd with no explanation." Jack said, referring to the Doctor breathing on the medallion.

 **INT. CAPTAIN'S CABIN**

 _ **The Doctor uses the butt of a musket to break the glass windows.**_

 **DOCTOR: We've got to destroy every reflection. Gold, silver, glass, she could spring from any of them. Oh, yes, yes, I know, I know. Very bad luck to break it. But look at it this way. There's a stroppy homicidal mermaid trying to kill all.**

 **AVERY: How much worse can things get?**

 **DOCTOR: Yep. Help me lug this lot out.**

 **AVERY: Where are we taking it?**

 **DOCTOR; The ocean.**

 **AVERY: No! No. This is the treasure of the Mogul of India.**

Rose narrowed her eyes. "He can't really value treasure over everyone's life? Even his son's life?"

"Some people just don't have their priorities straightened out." Ten said.

 **DOCTOR: Oh, good. For a moment there I thought it was yours.**

 **AVERY: No, no. Doctor, wait. Must we do this?**

 **DOCTOR: Any reflection, any mirror, and the siren will attack. We have to protect Rory and Toby. Go and get the crown from the storeroom.**

"You really trusted him to throw that out?" Rory asked.

"I thought I had talked some sense into him." Eleven replied.

 _ **The Doctor starts throwing Avery's gold out of the broken windows.**_

 **INT. MAGAZINE**

 **RORY: Just wait?**

 **DOCTOR: Not my most dynamic plan, I realize.**

 **AMY: TARDIS?**

 **DOCTOR: It's been towed.**

 **AMY: What?**

 **DOCTOR: Sorry. We might be stuck here for a while.**

 **RORY: So you're saying that we should all just wait here below?**

 **AVERY: The sea is still calm, like a mirror. If you go out on deck she'll rise up and attack you.**

 **DOCTOR: It's okay. The calm won't last forever. When the wind picks up we'll all set sail.**

 **AVERY: Until it does, you have to hide down here.**

"That must have been dreadful." Clara said. "That's like asking for a chocolate cake and getting a muffin instead."

 _ **Later, Rory and Amy are asleep.**_

 **AVERY: I'm sorry about your mother. You miss her a lot.**

 **TOBY: Three years. No word from you.**

 **AVERY: Toby.**

 **TOBY: You promised her. You promised you'd come home. And she believed you would, right up until the day she died. What made you do it? What made you turn pirate?**

 **AVERY: Get some sleep now.**

 **EYE PATCH LADY [OC]: It's fine. You're doing fine. Just stay calm.**

 _ **Amy opens her eyes just in time to see an apparent hatch in the side of the ship slide shut on the face of the mysterious woman.**_

"What the hell was that?" Jack wondered.

Amy, Rory, Eleven, and River's faces darkened at the sudden appearance of Madame Kovarian.

 **ON DECK**

 **DOCTOR: It's not one star, it's two. The Dog star, Sirius. Binary system.**

 **AVERY: I use it to navigate the ocean.**

 **DOCTOR: I've travelled far, like you. Space can be very lonely, and the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you.**

The companions smiled at their Doctors, who all smiled back. Some got hugs, some got hand holds, and some simply leaned on each other, depending on the different Doctor.

 **AVERY: If we get out of this I'll take him back to England. He can't stay with me. I'm not the father he needs.**

 **DOCTOR: Who are you, Henry Avery? Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here, wandering the oceans with a band of rogues?**

 **AVERY: I've set my course now. Nothing I can do to alter it.**

"Oh, there's always time for the winds to change." Ten said.

 **DOCTOR: People stared at it for centuries and never knew. Things can suddenly change, when you're least expecting.**

 **INT. CAPTAIN'S CABIN**

 **AMY: Doctor?**

 **DOCTOR: Shush.**

 **AMY: What can you see?**

 **DOCTOR: Feels like something's out there, staring straight at me.**

 _ **There is thunder and lightning.**_

 **DOCTOR: Man the sails!**

 **ON DECK**

 _ **The rain is lashing down.**_

 **AVERY: To the rigging, you dogs! Let go the sails. Avast ye! Put the bunt into the slack of the clews.**

 _ **Amy and Rory pull on the sheets.**_

 **AMY: I swear he's making half this stuff up.**

"Nah," said Eleven, "you two just need to pick up the slang."

"I'll pass." Rory said.

 **RORY: Well, we're going to need some kind of phrase book.**

 _ **The Doctor is at the wheel, trying to turn her bow on to the storm.**_

 **AVERY: Toby! Find my coat. My compass is inside it, boy. Heave ho, you bilge rats.**

 **RORY: Rats was all I could hear.**

 _ **Toby returns with the coat, and the crown falls out and rolls along the deck.**_

"All because he couldn't give it up." River shook her head.

 _ **The Siren comes out of the crown and flies up into the rigging, then descends again to the deck.**_

 **AVERY: Don't let her take you!**

"Oh, yeah, because that worked for every other crew member you said that to." Jack's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

 _ **Toby reaches out to the Siren.**_

 **AVERY: No!**

 _ **Toby is gone in a puff of smoke.**_

 **AVERY: No!**

Everyone except for those who were there suddenly felt at a loss of options. The entire crew of the ship plus one had been killed by the siren, how could the last four possibly make it out alive when so many had already died? Despite how the Doctor did exactly that time and time again, they began to have doubts. The Doctor seemingly didn't have any other plans. They could only hope that he came up with something, and fast.

 _ **The Doctor throws the crown overboard, and the Siren disappears.**_

 **AVERY: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.**

 **DOCTOR: You couldn't give up the gold, could you. That's why you turned pirate. Your commission, your wife, your son. Just how much is that treasure worth to you, man?**

"That's terrible…" Rose mumbled.

 _ **A loose spar knocks Rory overboard.**_

"Oh my God." Martha stared at the screen. How the hell did Rory survive that? He should have drowned, and surely the impact must have hurt, if anything.

 **AMY: Rory! Rory! I can't see him. Doctor? I'm going in.**

 **DOCTOR: He's drowning. He's drowning! You go in after him, you'll drown too.**

 **There's only one thing that can save him now.**

"You don't mean-" River began before Eleven cut her off.

"Yes, exactly. That's exactly what I mean."

 **AMY: What are you talking about?**

 **DOCTOR: The Siren. The Siren, she wants him. We have to release her.**

"So either die by drowning, or die by random mythical creature. Loving the options here!" Jack said.

 **AMY: Doctor, no.**

 _ **The Doctor opens a fresh water barrel and the Siren zooms out.**_

 **DOCTOR: He's drowning. Go and find him!**

 _ **The Siren dives into the sea.**_

 **AMY: What, what did you do?**

 **DOCTOR: If he stays in there he'll die.**

"And if the siren finds him, he'll die." Donna added.

 **AMY: But she'll destroy him.**

 **DOCTOR: That thing isn't just a ravenous hunter. It's intelligent. We can reason with it. And maybe, just maybe, they're still alive somewhere. We have to follow.**

"Follow?! You might have accidentally committed suicide!" Clara stared at the trio.

"Yes," agreed Eleven, "but we didn't."

 **AVERY: Are you mad?**

 **DOCTOR: If we ever want to see them again, we have to let the Siren take us. We'll prick our fingers. All agreed? Yeah?**

"You mean there was a possibility that whole time that the siren wasn't killing people and you'd decided to only just then mention it?" Mickey asked Eleven.

"Well I wasn't exactly considering it as a real possibility until then." Eleven replied.

 **AVERY: Aye.**

 **AMY: Aye.**

 **DOCTOR: Aye.**

 _ **The Doctor draws blood from each of them. The black spot appears on their palms and the Siren appears. There is a flash of bright light.**_

 **INT. SPACESHIP**

 _ **They wake up on a metal floor.**_

"Thank God." Clara let out under her breath.

 **AMY: Where are we?**

 **DOCTOR: We haven't moved. We're in exactly the same place as before.**

"What is it?" Asked Rose. "A parallel universe?"

"Sort of, but not exactly." Nine said, then smiled at Rose. "Well done. I suppose future me has told you about parallel universes, then?"

"Well, yeah, but we actually visited one."

Nine's face fell. "That's impossible."

Rose gave a small laugh. "That's what your future self said, too."

Nine took a look at Ten, wondering what exactly his next regeneration was like. His morals, his choices. His new quirks and tastes. His fashion taste seemed okay, for the most part. Although he would have gotten rid of those pinstripes if it were his choice. But Nine also wanted to know how his tenth regeneration and Rose got along, as well. They seemed to be close, which was good. But knowing just how close they were would have to wait for further investigation.

 _ **They look through a window onto the deck of the ship.**_

 **AVERY: We're on a ghost ship.**

 **DOCTOR: No. It's real. Space ship trapped in a temporal rift.**

 **AMY: How can two ships be in the same place?**

 **DOCTOR: Not the same. Two planes, two worlds, two cars parked in the same**

 **space. There are lots of different universes nested inside each other. Now and again they collide, and you can step from one to the other.**

 **AMY: Okay, I think I understand.**

 **DOCTOR: Good, because it's not like that at all. But if that helps.**

 **AMY: Thanks.**

"He constantly does that." Amy said.

"Does what?" Martha asked.

"He explains something, or tries to, and then says that we might as well forget it all because that's not even close to what it's like."

"Well, it's hard to explain in a way that you'd understand. Especially in your languages." Eleven defended himself. "In Gallifreyan, we have specific words for these things."

 **DOCTOR: All the reflections have suddenly become gateways.**

 _ **The Doctor throws a piece of metal at the window. It goes through and lands on the deck.**_

"So, like a portal." Amy clarified.

"Well, yes, but they're not called _portals_ , Pond. That's so... _sci-fi_."

Amy rolled her eyes.

 **DOCTOR: Ever look in a mirror and think you're seeing a whole other world? Well, this time it's not an illusion.**

 _ **Something beeps.**_

 **AMY: The signal.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes.**

 **AMY: The distress call.**

 **DOCTOR: Uh huh.**

 **AMY: There was a second ship here all the time.**

 **DOCTOR: And the Siren is on board.**

 _ **The Doctor opens a door to reveal an alien skeleton. Its spacesuit says D.I.H.S**_

 **DOCTOR: Dead.**

 **INT. BRIDGE**

 **AMY: You were right. There was something staring at us the whole time. How long has this ship been marooned here?**

 **AVERY: Long enough for the Captain to have run out of grog.**

 **AMY: I don't understand. If this is the Captain, then what's the Siren?**

 **DOCTOR: Same as us. A stowaway.**

 **AMY: She killed it?**

"Oh, sure, let's just blame everything on the siren, shall we?" Eleven said.

"Well, up until then, I had thought she was a mythical beast with some serious bloodlust." Amy retorted.

 **DOCTOR: Human bacteria.**

 **AMY: What?**

 **DOCTOR: A virus from our planet. Airborne, travelling through the portal. That's what killed it. Didn't get its jabs. Urgh. Look.**

 _ **The Doctor has put his hand in some gunk.**_

 **AMY: What is it?**

 **DOCTOR: Sneeze! Alien bogies.**

Everyone made noises and faces explaining their disgust.

 _ **He wipes his hand on the sleeve of Amy's pirate coat.**_

"Thank you for the gift, Doctor." Amy said, lighthearted.

"You're welcome, Pond." Eleven smiled cheekily at her.

 **INT. SICKBAY**

 _ **Lots of people lying on beds floating in midair, and connected by a tube to the ceiling.**_

 **AVERY: McGrath! He's one of my men.**

 **AMY: He's still breathing.**

The mood in the room brightened immensely. If one was still alive, that meant there was a great probability that the others were too.

 **AVERY: My entire crew is here. Toby!**

 **AMY: Rory!**

 **DOCTOR: The Tardis!**

Everyone laughed a little. The TARDIS would always be the Doctor's first and foremost companion.

 **AVERY: We have to get them out of here.**

 **DOCTOR: Wait. His fever's gone.**

 **AMY: He looks so well.**

 **DOCTOR: She's keeping him alive. His brain is still active, but all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse, it's a tissue sample. Why get samples of people you are about to kill?**

"Maybe because she's not about to kill them." River said.

"Oh, thank you Captain Obvious." Eleven replied.

 **AMY: Help me get him up.**

 _ **Rory begins to wake.**_

 **DOCTOR: She's coming.**

 _ **They hide behind a bank of monitors. The Siren floats in, singing her wordless song, and goes to Rory. He calms down and sleeps again.**_

 **DOCTOR: Anaesthetic.**

 **AVERY: What?**

 **DOCTOR: The music. The song. So she anaesthetises people and puts their body in stasis.**

 _ **The Siren goes to Toby. Avery steps out, gun ready.**_

"Can't people just observe and not interfere?" Ten asked, annoyed with all the guns.

"Says the man who does nothing but interfere." Clara retorted.

 **DOCTOR: Avery, no!**

 _ **Avery shoots, and the Siren turns red. She advances on Avery, then the Doctor sneezes. The Siren heads for him instead, now with flames between her hands.**_

 **DOCTOR: Fire. That's new. What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else? Sterilise! I sneezed. I've brought germs in.**

 _ **The Doctor blows his nose and throws the handkerchief on the floor. The Siren blasts the offending article. Amy runs to Rory.**_

 **DOCTOR: Amy, stop. Don't interfere. Don't touch him. Anaesthetic, tissue sample, screen, sterile working conditions. Ignore all my previous theories!**

"Three times in a row!" Mickey laughed. "I think you're setting a new record here."

 **AMY: Yeah? Well, we stopped paying attention a while back.**

 **DOCTOR: She's not a killer at all, she's a doctor!**

Martha's face twisted. "A doctor? So, like, instead of having patients come in themselves, she brings the patients in?"

"Exactly." Eleven said.

"You know, that actually makes a lot of sense, and now I'm just upset that I didn't come to that conclusion sooner." Ten said, slumped.

Rose held back a quick laugh and patted Ten's back. "It's alright." She whispered to him. "You're still very clever."

He looked at her and his frown upturned. "I am, aren't I?"

Rose immediately stopped patting his back and rolled her eyes.

 _ **Amy stops fiddling with Rory's life support and the Siren returns to green.**_

 **DOCTOR: This is an automated sick bay. It's teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor able to sterilise a whole room.**

 **AMY: Able to burn your face off.**

 **DOCTOR: She's just an interface, seeped through the join between the planes, broadcast in our world. Protean circuitry means she can change her form, and become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister, you are good.**

 **AVERY: She won't let us take them.**

 **DOCTOR: She's keeping them alive, but she doesn't know how to heal them.**

"Well, that's not much good, is it? A doctor that doesn't know how to heal?" Mickey remarked.

 **AMY: I'm his wife, for God's sake. Why can't I touch him?**

 **DOCTOR: Tell her, Amy. Show her your ring. She may be virtual but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent. Come on. Sophisticated girl like you. That must be somewhere in your core program.**

 **AMY: Look, he's very ill, okay? I just want to look after him. Why won't you let me near my husband?**

 _ **The Siren holds out her hand, and a circle of light appears around it.**_

 **DOCTOR: Consent form. Sign it. Put your hand in the light. Rory's sick. You have to take full responsibility.**

The others felt unsure about Amy taking full responsibility. She was his wife, sure, but she also had no medical training.

 _ **Amy does so, and the Siren disappears. Amy turns off Rory's life support.**_

 **DOCTOR: He can't breathe. Turn it back on.**

 **AMY: What do we do? I can't just leave him here.**

 **AVERY: He'll die if you take him out.**

 **AMY: Rory? Rory, wake up.**

 **RORY: Where am I?**

 **DOCTOR: You're in a hospital. If you leave, you might die.**

 **AMY: But if you don't, you'll have to stay forever.**

 **RORY: You're saying that if I don't get up now**

 **AMY: You can never leave.**

"That would be awful." Clara said, before adding, "not to mention dreadfully boring."

"God, yeah." Rory agreed. "Lying in a hospital bed for years until I finally age away-doesn't seem like a very nice life."

 **DOCTOR: The Siren will keep you safe.**

 **RORY: And if I come with you?**

 **DOCTOR: Drowning, on the point of death.**

 **RORY: I'm a nurse.**

"You're a nurse?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, why?" Rory answered.

"Nothing, it's just, I'm a doctor."

"A doctor? You mean, like, a proper doctor, right? You're not going to regenerate and turn into one of these lunatics, are you?"

Multiple, offended "hey"s went throughout the room.

Martha laughed. "No, no. Definitely not."

 **AMY: What?**

 **RORY: I can teach you how to save me.**

"Risky," Martha began, "but it could work."

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn't have recommended it if there weren't any other choice." Rory said.

 **AMY: Whoa. Hold on.**

 **RORY: I was drowning. You just have to resuscitate me.**

 **AMY: Just?**

 **RORY: You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life.**

 **AMY: Rory, this isn't a film, okay? What if I do it wrong?**

 **RORY: You won't.**

 **AMY: Okay, what if you don't come back to life? What if-**

 **RORY: I trust you.**

 **AMY: What about him? I mean, why do I have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?**

 **RORY: Because I know you'll never give up.**

Everyone watched, feeling as though they were intruding. At the same time, they couldn't help but be amazed at just how much Rory trusted Amy. Not that Amy was untrustworthy, but that Rory had a ridiculous amount of faith in her. There he was, his life on the line, and he's flippantly talking about Amy rescuing him.

 **DOCTOR: We have to send this ship back into space. Imagine if the Siren got ashore. She would have to process every injured human.**

They all thought of what exactly that would be like for the human race, then stopped immediately. They didn't need that kind of image in their head.

 **AVERY: What about Toby?**

 **DOCTOR: I'm sorry. Typhoid fever. Once he returns it's only a matter of time.**

Everyone sombered. Of course, they couldn't save everybody.

 **AVERY: What if I stay with him, here. The Siren will look after him. I can't go back to England. And what home does he have now, if not with me?**

 **DOCTOR: Do you think you can sail this thing?**

 **AVERY: Just point me to the atom accelerator.**

 **RORY: I know you can do this. Of course, if you muck it up I am going to be really cross. And dead.**

Amy managed a laugh at her husband's stupid humor.

 **AMY: I'll see you in a minute.**

 _ **The Doctor rips off Rory's restraints. They get him off the bed and carry him into the TARDIS.**_

 **INT. TARDIS**

 _ **Where Amy starts CPR, doing 1 breath to 5 chest compressions.**_

 **DOCTOR: Come on. Come on, Rory. Not here. Not this way. Not today.**

 **AMY: He trusted me. He trusted me to save him.**

 **DOCTOR: You still can. You can still do this. He believes in you. Come on, Amy. Come on!**

 **AMY: Please, please, please wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Come on. Come on.**

Everyone looks on with wide, hopeful eyes that slowly lose more and more hope as Rory continues to not wake up.

 _ **But finally even she gives up.**_

Everyone except for Amy, Rory, Eleven, River and Twelve look on confused and worried. There's no way Rory is actually dead. He simply couldn't be. He was sitting right next to them, for heaven's sake! But the on-screen Rory simply didn't move.

 _ **After a few moments, Rory starts coughing up water.**_

 **RORY: Amy. Amy, you did it. You did it!**

A sigh of relief is let out and there are a few cheers for Amy.

 _ **Later, Captain Avery has control of the spaceship, with Toby as his co-pilot, still attached to his life support mechanism. The rest of his crew come to watch as they fly between the stars.**_

Everyone smiled at the scene, and hoped that the pirate crew, Avery and Toby would have some fun times in their spaceship.

 **AMY: I thought I was an excellent pirate.**

 **RORY: I thought you were an excellent nurse.**

 **AMY: Easy, tiger. Goodnight, Doctor.**

 **DOCTOR: Goodnight, Amelia.**

"Amelia? Is that your full name?" Ten asked Amy.

" _Was_ my full name." Amy corrected. "He just still insists on calling me that."

 **AMY: You only call me Amelia when you're worrying about me.**

Those who weren't there frowned, confused. Why was the Doctor worrying about Amy?

 **DOCTOR: I always worry about you.**

 _ **Amy remembers the moment of the Doctor's death by the lake.**_

The room plunged into chaos.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Did that just show the Doctor dying?"

"Wait a second...was that an astronaut? Did the Doctor get killed by an astronaut?"

A gunshot rang out, and everyone quieted down.

Captain Jack could be seen putting his revolver back. "Listen," he said steadily, "I know we're all curious and very possibly freaked out, but let's not forget the task at hand, here. If we ever want to get out of this place, we're gonna have to watch these episodes. I'd prefer to spend my time wisely rather than delay getting answers, wouldn't you?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Now, on with the show."

 **AMY: Mutual.**

 **DOCTOR: Go to bed, Pond.**

 **RORY: (sotto) You can't tell him. It's his future.**

Nine and Ten knit their eyebrows. Were Amy and Rory in some sort of Doctor mix-up?

 **AMY: I know.**

 _ **The body scan is still undecided as to whether Amy is pregnant or not.**_

The Doctors previous to Eleven and all the companions except for Amy, River and Rory looked on, confused. Why was the Doctor secretly scanning Amy for pregnancy?

"Why is it doing that?" Amy asked.

"Well, you weren't exactly...you at the moment." Eleven whispered to her.

"Oh, right."

 **DOCTOR: Oh, Amelia.**

Everyone was so focused on the screen in front of them, that they didn't even notice the flash of bright, white light behind them until a voice had begun to talk.

"What...what is this place?" Said the voice-female.

All heads on the couches whipped around, and some of those heads had a grin on them once they saw who it was.

 **Alright, so I've decided to skip the Next Time trailer this chapter, seeing as we're not watching The Doctor's Wife next and the characters have already been shown the trailer for Aliens of London, which is up next. Hope you enjoyed this little blip in the regular viewing.**


	6. Aliens of London

**Guys, your reviews are making me feel all warm and fuzzy.**

"Sarah!" Ten exclaimed, joyfully.

"Doctor? What are you doing here?" Sarah Jane Smith asked her old friend.

"Same as you, probably," Rose spoke, "we got transported."

"And Rose, too! Well, what a partially delightful surprise this is."

"Only partially?" Ten asked with a pout. "I thought you'd be happier to see me."

"Of course I am, Doctor, but," Sarah Jane looked around, "it does seem as though we are stuck here."

"We'll just have to throw a party, then!" Eleven butted in, excited and jumping up.

"What are you, twelve? Sit back down." River demanded, pulling Eleven down by the back of his shirt. She then got up and walked over to Sarah Jane, holding out a hand.

"River Song." River introduced herself as Sarah Jane shook her offered hand, then they both let go. "You must be Sarah Jane Smith. May I just say, it is lovely to meet you."

"So, the old man's finally opened up, has he?" Sarah Jane remarked.

"Actually," River began, "no. Still sealed. I looked up all the Doctor's previous companions in the TARDIS databanks."

"So, you travel with him, then?"

"Used to. I popped in every now and then, but mostly I did my own time traveling."

"So, who is everyone?" Sarah Jane asked Ten, River and Rose.

After a brief introduction and explanation of what they were doing, Sarah Jane sat down next to Clara.

The screen lit up.

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 _ **The TARDIS materializes. The Doctor and Rose walk out.**_

"Looks like we're back to the normal episodes, now." Ten said.

 **ROSE: How long have I been gone?**

"Probably five months." Rory said.

"At least he returned her to the right place." Sarah Jane said.

"Did he not with you?" Rose asked.

"No," Sarah Jane replied, "when he took off he left me in Aberdeen, instead of South Croydon."

"Are you kidding?" Rose sat, shocked for a mere moment, before simply becoming annoyed.

"I wish I was." Said the older companion.

 **DOCTOR: About twelve hours.**

Rose scoffed, but didn't say anything.

 **ROSE: Oh. Right, I won't be long. I just want to see my mum.**

 **DOCTOR: What're you going to tell her?**

 **ROSE: I don't know. I've been to the year 5 billion and only been gone, what,**

 **twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later. Oh, don't you disappear.**

 _ **While Rose runs up the stairs to the flat, the Doctor spots an old poster half stuck to a concrete pillar. "Police Appeal for Assistance. Can You Help?"**_

"Not twelve hours, then." River said.

"No. I remember this day, now." Mickey said.

Nine had too, and was intently paying attention. Wasn't this the day he had just left? Was it going to show his near future? It was entirely possible, and honestly he should have expected it, seeing as whoever brought them here brought multiple of his selves. It was probably going to show all of them their futures.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: I'm back! I was with Shareen. She was all upset again. Are you in? So, what's been going on? How've you been? What? What's that face for? It's not the first time I've stayed out all night.**

 _ **Jackie drops her mug of tea. It smashes on the floor.**_ _**The Doctor finishes reading the poster and runs to the flat.**_

 **JACKIE: It's you.**

 **ROSE: Of course it's me.**

 **JACKIE: Oh, my God. It's you. Oh my God.**

 _ **Jackie hugs Rose, who spots several different types of missing person posters on the table. The Doctor runs in.**_

 **DOCTOR: It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry.**

"'Sorry?!'" Donna was outraged. "That's all you can think to say, 'sorry?'"

"Well, I-" Nine began, but was interrupted.

"I don't want to hear any excuses from you, spaceman! Do you have any idea of the hell you must've put Jackie through?"

"Seriously, Doctor." Martha said, shaking her head. "You really screwed up this time."

Nine leaned back and sighed. He'd have to have a talk with the TARDIS about her flying when he got back.

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

" **ALIENS OF LONDON"**

 _ **Outside, a young boy has spray-painted Bad Wolf on the side of the TARDIS.**_

"There it is again.." Rose muttered.

 _ **Inside, astonishment has given way to fury, and a policeman has been called.**_

 **JACKIE: The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer. You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling.**

 **ROSE: That's what I was doing.**

 **JACKIE: When your passport's still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another.**

 **ROSE: I meant to phone. I really did. I just I forgot.**

"Nice." Jack said, sarcastically. "Really nice excuse."

He got slapped on the shoulder by Mickey.

 **JACKIE: What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?**

 **DOCTOR: Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Rose as my companion.**

 **POLICEMAN: When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?**

"Of course they'd assume that." Ten said, exasperated at the domestics.

 **ROSE + DOCTOR: No.**

 **JACKIE: Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? Forty? Forty five? What, did you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?**

 **DOCTOR: I am a Doctor.**

"No you're not." Clara corrected him. "You're the Doctor but you're not a Doctor."

"Actually," Twelve said, "I graduated from Glasgow University-"

"-in the wrong century." Clara reminded him.

"Yeah, but we can just ignore that bit, can't we?"

"The things I do for your ego, Doctor." Clara shook her head.

 **JACKIE: Prove it. Stitch this, mate!**

 _ **Jackie hits the Doctor, hard.**_

The Doctor's companions all looked at him.

"Wha-it hurt!" The Doctor defended his pride.

 _ **Later, in the kitchen, mother and daughter are reconciled.**_

 **JACKIE: Did you think about me at all?**

 **ROSE: I did. All the time, but-**

 **JACKIE: One phone call. Just to know that you were alive.**

 **ROSE: I'm sorry. I really am.**

 **JACKIE: Do you know, what terrifies me is that you still can't say. What happened to you, Rose? What can be so bad that you can't tell me, sweetheart? Where were you?**

Everyone looked on, feeling bad for Jackie.

 **POWELL ESTATE - ROOF**

 **ROSE: I can't tell her. I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year. Was it good?**

 **DOCTOR: Middling.**

 **ROSE: You're so useless.**

Ten sent a pout Rose's way, who playfully pushed him with her shoulder.

 **DOCTOR: Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?**

Nine frowned. In his timeline, Rose hadn't given him an answer, yet. He knew the Rose that was with him now was from the future, meaning at some point she would go with him, but maybe she took a break for a while. Maybe he traveled on his own again for who knows how long.

 **ROSE: I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, she's not coming with us.**

Everyone laughed at the thought of Jackie traveling with the Doctor.

 **ROSE: No chance.**

 **DOCTOR: I don't do families.**

"Really?" Amy asked Eleven. "Then what are you doing right now?"

Eleven stuttered for a little before shutting up.

 **ROSE: She slapped you!**

 **DOCTOR: Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother.**

"Well, it's going to happen more from here on out." Martha stated.

"So, you were nine-hundred at that point?" Sarah Jane asked, to which all the Doctors nodded.

 **ROSE: Your face.**

 **DOCTOR: It hurt!**

 **ROSE: You're so gay. When you say nine hundred years?**

 **DOCTOR: That's my age.**

 **ROSE: You're nine hundred years old.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

Suddenly, Rose had a thought. "How old are each of you now?"

Ten spoke first. "I'm nine-hundred and six."

Then Eleven. "Twelve-hundred."

"That went up quickly." Donna said.

"Oh, if you think that's high…" Clara began, then looked at Twelve for him to finish.

"Over two-thousand." Twelve said.

The other Doctors looked on in astonishment at Twelve. Just how long was he going to live?

 **ROSE: My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap. Every conversation with you just goes mental.**

Everyone spluttered out some laughter.

 **ROSE: There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist.**

 _ **There is a deep horn and a spaceship, trailing black smoke passes overhead and heads for the city. It misses Tower Bridge, weaves around St Paul's, then with a nasty back-fire and a splutter, dives for the Thames, taking out the Clock Tower. Big Ben chimes once and the spaceship crashes into the river. The Doctor and Rose watch a plume of black smoke rise into the air on the horizon.**_

"Well, now you've got more people to talk to, Rose." Jack said.

She gave him the stink eye.

 **ROSE: Oh, that's just not fair.**

 _ **The Doctor laughs, takes Rose's hand and they run off.**_

 **STREET**

 **SOLDIER: Get back. Get back.**

 **DOCTOR: It's blocked off.**

 **ROSE: We're miles from the centre. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down.**

 **DOCTOR: I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!**

Sarah Jane shook her head. "Only you would see a crashing spaceship as 'fantastic.'"

 **ROSE: Did you know this was going to happen?**

 **DOCTOR: Nope.**

 **ROSE: Do you recognise the ship?**

 **DOCTOR: Nope.**

 **ROSE: Do you know why it crashed?**

 **DOCTOR: Nope.**

 **ROSE: Oh, I'm so glad I've got you.**

Everyone chuckled.

 **DOCTOR: I bet you are. This is what I travel for, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us.**

"Really?" Jack asked. "Because all you're seeing right now is the army trucks."

Nine threw a pillow at Jack.

 **ROSE: Well, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS.**

"Hmm, not a good idea." River decided.

 **DOCTOR: Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice.**

 **DOCTOR: You'd be surprised. Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me. The TARDIS stays where it is.**

 **ROSE: So history's happening and we're stuck here.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes, we are.**

 **ROSE: We could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV.**

"Eugh." Ten said. "Domestics."

"What is it with you and domestics?" Rose asked him.

"They're so boring, so unnecessary!"

"Maybe for you, but for some people it's a big part of their lives."

Ten sighed. He didn't understand how people could live like that.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **REPORTER [OC]: Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control widespread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene.**

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: The police are urging the public not to panic. There's a helpline number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family.**

 _ **US news channel AMNN.**_

 **WOMAN [on TV]: The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded.**

 _ **Back to News 24.**_

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find.**

 _ **AMNN**_

 **WOMAN [on TV]: The President will address the nation live from the White House, but the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies.**

 _ **Jackie brings in a mug for Rose and her friend Ru Chan, but not the Doctor.**_

 **JACKIE: I've got no choice.**

 **RU: You've broken your mother's heart.**

 **JACKIE: I'm not going to make him welcome.**

 **RU: I cradled her like a child.**

 **DOCTOR: Oi, I'm trying to listen.**

Clara rolled her eyes. Always so rude.

 _ **Cut to outside 10 Downing Street.**_

 **REPORTER [OC]: His current whereabouts. News is just coming in. We can go to Tom at the Embankment.**

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: They've found a body. It's unconfirmed-**

 **EMBANKMENT**

 **HITCHINSON: -but I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore.**

Everyone leaned forward, getting into the adventure, and wondering what kind of alien it was.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 _ **The gathering is turning into a welcome home party for Rose, with wine being served.**_

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: A body of some sort has been found inside the wreckage of the spacecraft.**

 **JACKIE: Oh, guess who asked me out. Billy Crewe.**

The Doctors rolled their eyes. History was happening and Jackie was wrapped up in dating.

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: Brought to the nearest shore. Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary, the whereabouts is yet unknown. The roads in Central London are being**

 _ **The channel changes to Blue Peter.**_

 **MATT BAKER [on TV]: And when you've stuck your fins on, you can cover the whole lot in buttercream.**

 _ **A toddler is on the Doctor's lap, wrestling for the remote.**_

Clara, Sarah Jane, and some others smiled at this.

 **MATT BAKER [on TV]: Oh, look at that. Then ice it any colour you want. Here's one I made a little bit earlier. And look at that, your very own spaceship ready to eat. And for something a little extra special**

 _ **News 24 returns.**_

 **HITCHINSON [OC]: Albion Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything.**

 **EXT. HOSPITAL**

 **HITCHINSON: But the body has been brought here, Albion Hospital. The road's closed off. It's the closest to the river.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **DOCTOR: Go on.**

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The building's been evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the-**

 **EXT. HOSPITAL**

 **HITCHINSON: streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls.**

 **INT. MORTUARY**

 _ **The General marches along the corridor with an escort, and into the room where a dainty oriental physician is in attendance of a large lump under a white sheet.**_

"Hey, I didn't know Tosh was there!" Jack exclaimed.

"Another member of your team?" River asked, to which Jack nodded.

 **ASQUITH: Let's have a look, then.**

 _ **She pulls back the sheet.**_

 **ASQUITH: Good God. And that's real? It's not a hoax or a dummy, or a-**

 **SATO: I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up.**

 _Except aliens._ Rose thought.

 **ASQUITH: We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive, get that out of sight.**

 _ **The body is placed into Body Cold Chamber number 5.**_

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **SATO: Excuse me, sir? I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumour flying around, but is it true what they're saying about the Prime Minister?**

People's eyebrows furrowed. What was going on with the Prime Minister?

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ANDREW MARR [on TV]: Mystery still surrounds there whereabouts of the Prime Minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition are criticising his lack of leadership, and. Hold on.**

 _ **An official car pulls up and a portly man gets out.**_

 **ANDREW MARR [on TV]: Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission**

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **ANDREW MARR: On the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now.**

"Now, why would he be there?" River wondered.

 **ENTRANCE HALL**

 **GANESH: Indra Ganesh, sir. Junior secretary with the MOD. I'll be your liaison.**

 **GREEN: Where the hell is he?**

 **GANESH: If we could talk in private, sir. Follow me upstairs.**

 **HARRIET: Excuse me! Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North.**

"This must be before she became Prime Minister." Martha said.

 **GANESH: I'm sorry, can it wait?**

 **HARRIET: But I did have an appointment at 3:15.**

"Very orderly, isn't she?" Jack noticed.

 **GANESH: Yes, and a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. I think the schedule might have changed.**

 _ **The men head up the stairs.**_

 **GRAND STAIRCASE**

 **GANESH: You've heard about the alien body, sir?**

 **GREEN: Never mind that, where is he? Where's the Prime Minister?**

 **GANESH: No one knows, sir. He's disappeared. I have to inform you that with the city gridlocked and the Cabinet stranded outside London, that makes you acting Prime Minister with immediate effect.**

 **GREEN: Oh, Lord. Oh, hold on.**

 _ **Green farts.**_

Everyone scrunches up their nose.

 **GREEN: Pardon me. It's just a nervous stomach. Anyway.**

 **OUTER OFFICE**

 **GANESH: Margaret Blaine. She's with MI5.**

 **MARGARET: There's no more information, sir. I personally escorted the Prime Minister from the cabinet room to his car. This is Oliver Charles, transport liaison.**

 **CHARLES: The car's disappeared. There's no record of it, sir. It literally vanished.**

 **GREEN: Right. Inside. Tell me everything.**

 **GANESH: Er, sir?**

 _ **Ganesh holds out a Ministerial Red Box.**_

 **GANESH: The emergency protocols. Detailing the actions to be taken by the government of Great Britain in the event of an alien incursion.**

 **GREEN: Right. Good.**

 _ **Green farts.**_

"Someone had a handful of beans for breakfast." Jack said.

 **GREEN: Blimey. Pardon me.**

 _ **Green takes the Red Box.**_

 **GREEN: Let's work, eh?**

 _ **Green follows Margaret and Charles into the Cabinet Room and puts the box down on the table. They all start laughing.**_

"Okay...little bit weird." Clara said. "Why are they laughing?"

 **EXT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: And where do you think you're going?**

"Man, you can never get away with anything while Rose is around, can you, Doc?" Jack grinned at Nine, who rolled his eyes.

 **DOCTOR: Nowhere. It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all.**

"Oh, sure." Martha's sarcasm was evident.

 **ROSE: Right. There's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering.**

 **DOCTOR: Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. It's perfect.**

"Too perfect." Nine mumbled.

 **ROSE: So?**

 **DOCTOR: So maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand. You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum.**

 **ROSE: Promise you won't disappear?**

 **DOCTOR: Tell you what. TARDIS key. It's about time you had one. See you later.**

"What?" Donna asked. "I haven't got a TARDIS key!"

"Yeah, neither have I or Rory." Amy said.

"Yeah, Doc, where's my TARDIS key?" Jack asked.

"Jack," Ten began, "I wouldn't give you a TARDIS key even if it killed you."

Jack gasped (as did some others, not knowing Jack couldn't die) and said over-dramatically while clutching at his chest, "Doctor, you wound me."

"I think that was a little bit harsh…" Clara said.

"Nah," Jack reassured Clara, "me getting killed isn't much. I'd just come back to life."

"How? Are you like-"

"Like Ashildr?" Twelve cut in. "Yes, in the sense that he's immortal."

Clara looked at Twelve disapprovingly.

"What's that look for?" Twelve asked. "I don't think I've got that one labeled yet."

"Why have you made two people immortal?" She asked him.

"I actually didn't make Jack immortal."

"You better not have."

"But, so, you really can't die?" Donna asked Jack.

"Yeah," River said, "check this out." In a flash, she had her gun pulled out and had shot Jack.

There were some screams and a "what the hell, River?!"

For a few moments, Jack didn't move, and those who hadn't seen him die before were afraid he wouldn't come back. But then Jack gasped, and those people let out a breath of relief.

"River!" Eleven scolded his wife. "What have I told you about shooting people?"

"That it's not appropriate at the dinner table?"

Eleven groaned in annoyance.

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 **WOMAN: Oi, gorgeous! Come back and join the party!**

 _ **Mickey has gone out onto his balcony to check on the state of his trainers, and sees the Doctor walking back to the TARDIS.**_

 **MICKEY: Oh my God!**

 _ **Mickey runs out of his flat as the Doctor goes inside the TARDIS. It dematerializes.**_

Clara shook her head. "Of course you took off."

"Well, I was planning on coming back." Twelve said.

Clara huffed. "Still, when you do that without any explanation, it leaves us to wonder whether you actually will be coming back or not."

Twelve could see what she was trying to say, but couldn't: It _scared_ them. Twelve had learned his lesson on what he did when they were on the moon in mid-21st century, but he thought back to his eleventh self, when he was on Trenzalore and thought he would die. Did he regret sending Clara back to her home, twice? If he hadn't she would have died soon, he would have watched her age until he had to cover her with dirt and rocks. He hardly could imagine that living out her life until death on a foreign planet was the life that Clara wanted. No. He didn't regret his decision. Not one bit.

 **MICKEY: Wait, Doctor! Doctor!**

 _ **Mickey crashes full pelt into the corrugated iron shutters of the empty shop behind where the Tardis was parked. He tries to walk away nonchalantly.**_

Everyone laughs at this (Mickey does so nervously) and Martha smiles at her husband's antics.

 _ **The TARDIS is not happy in flight. The Doctor resorts to a hammer to sort things out.**_

Nine leans forward. From this point on, he was completely in the dark about what was going on.

 **OUTER OFFICE**

 _ **The MP for Flydale North brings the Junior Secretary a cup.**_

 **HARRIET: I bet no one's bought you a coffee.**

River shook her head. "If only it were that easy."

 **GANESH: Thank you.**

 **HARRIET: Pleasure.**

 **GANESH: You still can't go in.**

 **HARRIET: Damn. You've seen through my cunning plan.**

 **GANESH: Look, I'm sorry. It's just impossible.**

 **HARRIET: Not even for two minutes? I don't get many chances to walk these corridors. I'm hardly one of the Babes, just a faithful back bencher. And I know we've had a brave new world land right on our doorstep, and that's wonderful. I think that's probably wonderful. Nevertheless, ordinary life keeps ticking away. I need to enter this paper.**

"She is right, though." Martha said. "The world doesn't stop turning because a spaceship crashes into the Thames."

 _ **The trio leave the Cabinet Room.**_

 **HARRIET: Oh, Mister Green, sir. I know you're busy, but could you put this on the next Cabinet agenda?**

 **GREEN: What is it?**

 **HARRIET: Cottage hospitals. I've worked out a system whereby cottage hospitals do not have to be excluded from centers of excellence. You see, my mother's in the Flydale infirmary. That's my constituency. Tiny little place, you wouldn't know it, but it's given me a chance to-**

 **GREEN: By all the saints, get some perspective, woman! I'm busy.**

 _ **Ganesh grabs his jacket and follows the trio out. Harriet goes into the Cabinet Room and closes the door. She puts her proposal in the Red Box then notices the Emergency Protocols file inside it. She sits down and starts reading.**_

 **INT. HOSPITAL**

 _ **Doctor Sato is looking over her notes when she hears a thumping noise coming from Body Cold Chamber number 5.**_

 _ **The Tardis, meanwhile, has parked herself in a store room. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the door lock.**_

 **DOCTOR: Shush!**

"You do realize your screwdriver is an inanimate object, right?" Clara asked the Doctor.

"Well, of cou-" Twelve began to speak before Clara cut him off.

"Because you talk about it the same way you talk about your TARDIS."

 _ **Toshiko moves towards the chamber, and the thumping turns into a knocking.**_

"That's where they put the body, isn't it?" Rose asked.

 **INT. MEETING ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor walks into a room full of Red Berets - the Parachute Regiment. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, then the soldiers grab their weapons and point them at the Doctor.**_

"Doctor," Rory said, "you have got to watch where you're walking."

 _ **Something bursts out of the cooler, and Toshiko screams.**_

 **DOCTOR: Defence plan delta! Come on. Move! Move!**

 _ **He leads the Marines out of the room at the double.**_

"Leading soldiers?" Clara asked Twelve. "That doesn't seem like you."

"Don't forget I had just come out of the Time War." Twelve said to Clara, who nodded.

 **INT. MORTUARY**

 _ **Toshiko is cowering by her desk. She has a cut on her head.**_

Jack felt anger swell within him.

 **SATO: It's alive!**

 **DOCTOR: Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown.**

 **SATO: My god. It's still alive.**

 **DOCTOR: Do it!**

 **INT. HOSPITAL**

 **SOLDIER: Mick, Terry, side rooms. Now!**

 **SOLDIER 2: Clear!**

 **SOLDIER 3: Front clear!**

 **SOLDIER: Keep it moving!**

 **SOLDIER 4: Clear!**

 **INT. MORTUARY**

 **SATO: I swear it was dead.**

 **DOCTOR: Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?**

 _ **Metal clattering.**_

 **DOCTOR: It's still here.**

 _ **The Doctor gestures to a soldier outside the door to come in and kneel by Toshiko. Behind a filing cabinet is - a pig?**_

"That's not an alien." Nine's voice was dead-sure and serious.

The companions became confused. If it wasn't an alien, then what was it doing in the spaceship?

 **DOCTOR: Hello.**

 _ **The pig runs out on its hind legs. It is wearing a spacesuit.**_

 **DOCTOR: Don't shoot!**

 **INT. CORRDIOR**

 _ **Another soldier shoots the pig.**_

 **DOCTOR: What did you do that for? It was scared! It was scared.**

Everyone frowns, feeling bad for the creature.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **ASQUITH [OC]: I've got the White House phoning me direct because Downing Street won't answer their calls. This is outrageous! We haven't even started the vaccination programme. This is appalling. The nations of the world are watching the United Kingdom.**

 _ **Harriet packs away the documents and runs to the door to see the General berating the Trio in the outer office. She looks for somewhere to hide.**_

 **GREEN [OC]: Well, it has all been a bit of a shock.**

 **ASQUITH [OC]: This is the greatest crisis in modern history and you've done nothing. Your behaviour has been shameful, sir. You're supposed to be in charge. We need positive leadership. The capital's ground to a halt.**

 _ **Harriet disappears into a cupboard just as they enter.**_

 **ASQUITH: Furthermore, we can only assume that the Prime Minister's disappearance is the direct result of hostile alien action, and what have you been doing? Nothing.**

 **GREEN: Sorry. Sorry. I thought I was Prime Minister now.**

 **ASQUITH: Only by default.**

 **GREEN: Oh, that's not fair. I've been having such fun.**

Everyone scowled. Ever since the "alien" had been revealed to be false, the trio of Green, Margaret, and Charles had been their prime suspects.

 **ASQUITH: You think this is fun?**

 **GREEN: It's a hoot, this job.**

 **MARGARET: Honestly, it's super.**

 _ **Charles farts.**_

 **CHARLES: Oh, excuse me.**

 _ **Fart.**_

 **CHARLES: Oh!**

 _ **The trio laugh, and fart almost continuously from now on.**_

 **ASQUITH: What's going on here? Where's the rest of the cabinet? Why haven't they been airlifted in?**

 **GREEN: I cancelled it. They'd only get in the way. Oh, there I go.**

 **MARGARET: Oh, and me! I'm shaking my booty.**

Everyone looked disgusted, while also thinking. Were there any aliens that made a habit out of passing gas?

 **ASQUITH: Sir! Under Section Five of the emergency protocols, it is my duty to relieve you of command. And by God, I'll put this country under marshal law if I have to.**

 **GREEN: Oh, I'm scared. I mean, that's hair-raising. I mean, literally. Look!**

 _ **Green unzips his forehead, and a blue light pours out.**_

"It's about time the aliens revealed themselves." Mickey said.

 _ **Margaret and Charles do the same. Harriet watches, horrified, as we hear blubbery, squelching noises. There is a whumph! and General Asquith screams.**_

"Oh, God," Martha said, horrified, "what did they do to him?"

 **SATO: I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth.**

"How can it be ordinary?" Donna asked. "It stands upright."

 **DOCTOR: More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up it's brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke.**

Everyone felt anger swell this time.

 **SATO: So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that?**

"Probably to either create a distraction or cause panic." Clara said.

"Or both." River added.

 **SATO: Doctor?**

 _ **He's gone.**_

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **SATO: Doctor?**

 _ **There is the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing.**_

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Here's to the Martians!**

 **ALL: The Martians!**

The Doctors rolled their eyes. Of course they'd all assume the supposed alien was from Mars.

 _ **Except Rose. Mickey enters.**_

 **TELEVISION: Crisis, with no head of state. Since the Royal Family have been evacuated**

 **ROSE: I was going to come and see you.**

 **RU: Someone owes Mickey an apology.**

 **ROSE: I'm sorry.**

 **RU: Not you.**

 **JACKIE: Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?**

Some people's eyes narrowed. What did Jackie do to Mickey?

 **TELEVISION: Designate, though she insists this was a matter for the electorate.**

 **INT. TYLER KITCHEN**

 **MICKEY: You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cos of you.**

 **ROSE: I didn't think I'd be gone so long.**

 **MICKEY: And I waited for you, Rose. Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor to come back.**

 **JACKIE: Hold on. You knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me?**

 _ **Mickey shuts the serving hatch and the door.**_

 **MICKEY: Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?**

 **JACKIE: Tell me now.**

 **MICKEY: I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away.**

 **ROSE: What do you mean?**

 **MICKEY: He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be.**

 _ **Rose runs out of the flat. Mickey follows her.**_

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 **ROSE: He wouldn't just go, he promised me.**

"Actually, he never really promised." Jack said.

Rose sent him a glare.

 **MICKEY: Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it.**

 **ROSE: He would have said.**

 **JACKIE: What're you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?**

 **MICKEY: Ho, ho, ho. He's vamoosed.**

The Doctors sighed and shook their heads. He would never leave his companions without a word unless he was forced to.

 **ROSE: He's not, because he gave me this. He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important than-**

Mickey looks down, thinking that he'd always be the second choice. Just then, a hand grabbed his, and he looked to see Martha smiling softly at him. He managed to smile back.

 _ **The TARDIS key begins to glow and the TARDIS starts to materialize.**_

 **ROSE: I said so. Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there, just go inside. Just, Mum, go. Oh, blimey.**

"Well, Rose, looks like you're going to have a lot of explaining to do." Jack said.

Rose sent him another glare.

 _ **The TARDIS materializes.**_

 **MICKEY: Huh?**

 **JACKIE: How'd you do that, then?**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: All right, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look-**

 **ROSE: My mum's here.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic.**

 **MICKEY: You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you.**

 **DOCTOR: You see what I mean? Domestic.**

Clara sighed. She could almost see her Doctor saying the same things.

 **MICKEY: I bet you don't even remember my name.**

 **DOCTOR: Ricky.**

 **MICKEY: It's Mickey.**

 **DOCTOR: No, it's Ricky.**

 **MICKEY: I think I know my own name.**

 **DOCTOR: You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?**

Clara scoffed.

"What is it?" Rose asked her.

"You should've seen him-" Clara gestured to Twelve "-when my boyfriend came aboard the TARDIS. It was like a warzone with words."

"It wasn't _that_ bad." Twelve said.

"Oh, it was." Clara emphasized.

"Blimey," Rose said, "not looking forward to seeing that."

 **ROSE: Mum, don't! Don't go anywhere. Don't start a fight!**

"As if we wouldn't." Nine scoffed.

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 _ **Rose follows Jackie out of the TARDIS.**_

 **ROSE: Mum, it's not like that. He's not. I'll be up in a minute. Hold on!**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **ROSE: That was a real spaceship.**

 **DOCTOR: Yep.**

 **ROSE: So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?**

 **MICKEY: Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert.**

 **DOCTOR: Good point! So, what're they up to?**

"You know, I'm gonna hold onto that." Mickey told Nine.

"Don't even think about it." Nine retorted.

"You complimented me!"

"It was barely a compliment."

"Still was, though."

 **TELEVISION: As the crisis continues and the government shows remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country. There've been at least three reports of public assaults on people falsely identified as aliens. Now back to Tom Hitchinson.**

 **HITCHINSON [on TV]: Are there more ships to come? And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help.**

 _ **Jackie dials 08081 570980. It is 23:08. She gets the busy tone twice.**_

"Oh, please don't tell me she's-" Nine began to say.

"Yeah, I think she is." Rose butted in.

 **TELEVISION: Tonight, the London Institute of Psychology is warning that incidents of violence**

 **JACKIE: Yes, I've seen one. I really have. An alien. And she's with him. My daughter, she's with him. And she's not safe. Oh, my God. She's not safe.**

The Doctors shook their heads. As if they're companions wouldn't be safe with them, in the TARDIS.

 **JACKIE: I've seen an alien, and I know his name. He's called the Doctor.**

 _ **Someone or something types The Doctor into a database search.**_

 **JACKIE: It's a box. A blue box. She called it a TARDIS.**

 _ **Over in Downing Street, an alarm goes off. Ganesh's computer screen is flashing Red Alert - The Doctor.**_

"Well, looks like they know who you are." Donna said.

"Yeah, sometimes people actually take notice of me when I travel." Ten said.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **MICKEY: So, what're you doing down there?**

 **DOCTOR: Ricky.**

 **MICKEY: Mickey.**

 **DOCTOR: Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?**

 **MICKEY: I suppose not.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, shut it, then.**

Rose slapped Nine on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Nine objected.

"Don't act like you don't deserve it." Rose said.

 **MICKEY: Some friend you've got.**

 **ROSE: He's winding you up. I am sorry.**

 **MICKEY: Okay.**

 **ROSE: I am, though.**

 **MICKEY: Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year.**

 **ROSE: It's only been a few days for me. I don't know. It's, it's hard to tell inside this thing but I swear it's just a few days since I left you.**

 **MICKEY: Not enough time to miss me, then?**

 **ROSE: I did miss you.**

 **MICKEY: I missed you.**

 **ROSE: So, er, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?**

 **MICKEY: No.**

 **ROSE: Okay.**

 **MICKEY: Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you.**

 **ROSE: Right.**

 **MICKEY: So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?**

Mickey shook his head at himself. He was a fool if he thought that Rose was ever going to stay put.

 **DOCTOR: Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on.**

 _ **The Doctor looks at the trajectory on the monitor.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed.**

 **ROSE: What does that mean?**

 **DOCTOR: It means it came from Earth in the first place.**

"So these aliens, they've been here for quite some time." River said.

Eleven nodded.

 **DOCTOR: It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?**

"Finding themselves some skin suits." Jack mumbled.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 _ **A floppy dummy of Oliver Charles is thrown over the back of a chair, and General Asquith stands up.**_

"Oh, that's gross." Donna said when seeing the skin suit. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

 **ASQUITH: What do you think? How's the compression?**

"Compression…" River muttered, trying to figure out which alien species they were.

 **ASQUITH: I think I've got too much ballast round the middle.**

 _ **General Asquith, or rather, the alien farts.**_

 **ASQUITH: Oh, that's better.**

 **MARGARET: We've really got to fix the gas exchange. It's getting ridiculous.**

"And gross." Amy said.

 **GREEN: I don't know. Seems very human to me. Ah, better get rid of his skin.**

 **ASQUITH: Shame. I quite enjoyed being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress, and a young farmer.**

 _ **He throws the skin and suit into Harriet's cupboard.**_

 **ASQUITH: God, I was busy.**

 **GREEN: Back to work.**

 **ASQUITH: I have an army to command.**

 **MARGARET: Careful, now. We're not there yet.**

 **OUTER OFFICE**

 **GANESH: General Asquith! Sir, we've had a priority alarm. It's code nine. Confirmed code nine.**

 **ASQUITH: Right. Good.**

 **CABINET ROOM**

 _ **Harriet comes out of the cupboard to listen.**_

 **ASQUITH [OC] Code nine, huh?**

 **OUTER OFFICE**

 **ASQUITH: Which would mean?**

"Honestly, could he be any less official?" Sarah Jane questioned.

 **GANESH: In the event of the emergency protocols being activated, we've got software that automatically searches all communications for key words, and one of those words is Doctor. I think we've found him, sir.**

 **MARGARET: What sort of doctor? Who is he?**

 **GANESH: Well, evidently he's some sort of expert in extraterrestrial affairs. The ultimate expert. And we need him, sir. We need him here right now!**

The Doctors sat back with smug smiles on their faces, thinking of themselves as the "ultimate experts" on extraterrestrials.

Their companions groaned and rolled their eyes.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 _ **Mickey and Rose are channel-hopping on the scanner.**_

 **MICKEY: How many channels do you get?**

"The scanners work as televisions?" Clara asked.

"You've never used them for that in this regeneration." Amy told Eleven.

All the Doctors, except Nine, were looking at the TV curiously.

Since when did the TARDIS scanners also come with a television component? They must have forgotten that bit.

 **DOCTOR: All the basic packages.**

 **MICKEY: You get sports channels?**

"Of course that's the only channel you care about." Martha teasingly said to Mickey.

 **DOCTOR: Yes, I get the football. Hold on, I know that lot.**

 **WOMAN [OC]: It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space.**

 **DOCTOR: UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people.**

"Oh, I remember them." Sarah Jane said. "They're terribly useful in the event of an alien incursion. Do you still hold ties with them, Doctor?"

"They come in and steal the spotlight every now and then." Twelve said.

"Have you seen the brigadier since I left?"

"I haven't seen much of the old brigadier, lately, but I have gotten to see his daughter quite a few times."

"That's Kate, right?" Clara asked. "She's the daughter to Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart."

Twelve nodded.

"Does she take after her father at all?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Well," Twelve said, "she's the Chief Scientific Officer for UNIT, so I suppose that counts."

 **ROSE: How do you know them?**

 **MICKEY: 'Cos he's worked for them. Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead.**

Everyone frowned. Some thought back to the first episode, when Clive had said that the Doctor's constant companion was death.

 **DOCTOR: That's nice. Good boy, Ricky.**

 **ROSE: If you know them, why don't you go and help?**

 **DOCTOR: They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days.**

Sarah Jane scoffed. "That's an understatement."

 **DOCTOR: Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving.**

 **MICKEY: Where to?**

 **DOCTOR: The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship.**

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 _ **They walk out of the Tardis and straight into a helicopter spotlight.**_

 **POLICE: Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads.**

"Always in trouble with the authorities." River shook her head and sighed.

 _ **Police cars and Saxon armoured personnel carriers surround them. Mickey runs. Jackie comes out of the block of flats.**_

 **JACKIE: Rose!**

 _ **Soldiers grab Jackie.**_

 **JACKIE: Rose!**

 _ **Mickey hides behind some dustbins and the soldiers run straight past.**_

 **POLICE: Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest.**

 **DOCTOR: Take me to your leader.**

"Bet you'd been waiting a while for that one." Rose grinned at Nine, who grinned back.

 **INT. POLICE CAR**

 **ROSE: This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago.**

"Wouldn't advise that. I think the cons outweigh the pros there, Rosie." Jack said.

 **DOCTOR: We're not being arrested, we're being escorted.**

 **ROSE: Where to?**

 **DOCTOR: Where'd you think? Downing Street.**

 **ROSE: You're kidding.**

 **DOCTOR: I'm not.**

 **ROSE: 10 Downing Street?**

 **DOCTOR: That's the one.**

 **ROSE: Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street? How come?**

 **DOCTOR: I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed.**

 **ROSE: Now they need you?**

 **DOCTOR: Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?**

The companions shook their heads slowly, in annoyance, and sighed.

 **ROSE: Patrick Moore?**

"That's it, Rose," Donna said, "just keep chipping into his ego."

 **DOCTOR: Apart from him.**

 **ROSE: Oh, don't you just love it.**

 **DOCTOR: I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?**

 **ROSE: How should I know? I missed a year.**

 **DOWNING STREET**

 _ **The Doctor mugs for the cameras outside Number Ten.**_

 **ROSE: Oh, my God.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: So, she's all right then? She's not in any trouble?**

 **STRICKLAND: Well, all I can say is, your daughter and her companion might be in a position to help the country. We'll need to know how she made contact with this man, if he is a man.**

 _ **The fat policeman sits down, and his stomach makes an unpleasant noise.**_

Rose's eyes widened.

 **STRICKLAND: Oof. Right, off you go then. I need to talk with Mrs Tyler on my own, thank you.**

 _ **A policeman and woman leave.**_

 **INT. WAITING ROOM**

 _ **Harriet comes downstairs and shows her ID to an armed policeman.**_

 **HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North.**

 _ **She mingles with the UNIT officers and large people in the room.**_

 **GANESH: Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times.**

 _ **He hands one to the Doctor.**_

 **GANESH: Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance.**

 **DOCTOR: I don't go anywhere without her.**

 **GANESH: You're the code nine, not her. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside.**

 **DOCTOR: She's staying with me.**

 **GANESH: Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact.**

 **ROSE: It's all right. You go.**

 **HARRIET: Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?**

 **DOCTOR: Sure.**

 **GANESH: Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?**

"Blimey, he's rude." Donna said.

 **HARRIET: I just need a word in private.**

 **DOCTOR: I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble.**

 _ **The Doctor leaves.**_

 **GANESH: You haven't got clearance. Now leave it. (to Rose) I'm going to have to leave you with security.**

 **HARRIET: It's all right. I'll look after her. Let me be of some use. (to Rose) Walk with me. Just keep walking.**

 **INT. ENTRANCE HALL**

 **HARRIET: That's right. Don't look round. Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North.**

 _ **In the briefing room, the Doctor rapidly scans the prepared papers.**_

 **HARRIET: This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?**

 **ROSE: Why do you want to know?**

 **Harriet starts crying.**

Everyone looked on sadly. Harriet must have really been scarred by what she had seen in the cabinet room. Of course, one should be if they had seen a human being get skinned.

 **INT. BRIEFING ROOM**

 **ASQUITH: Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please. As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant.**

 **DOCTOR: Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under Any Other Business. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there. You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?**

The companions smiled, loving it when the Doctor took over and they could see his mind working.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **HARRIET: They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!**

 **ROSE: It's all right. I believe you. It's, it's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it.**

"Most likely, they're keeping the technology with them, but otherwise, that's a good idea." River said.

 _ **Rose starts searching the room. She opens a different cupboard and a man's body falls out.**_

"Oh, God." Donna said. "Is that-"

"Yup." Ten said.

 **ROSE: Oh, my God! Is that the-**

 **GANESH: Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander-oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!**

 **INT. BRIEFING ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get? Us. They get us.**

Everyone, realizing what the Doctor was indicating, became tense.

 **DOCTOR: It's not a diversion, it's a trap.**

Jack began muttering, "please tell me they're not going to kill them. Please tell me they're not going to kill them."

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **MARGARET: Oh! Has someone been naughty?**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: It was bigger on the inside. I don't know. What do I know about spaceships?**

 **STRICKLAND: That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as trouble. Which means that anyone associated with him is trouble. And that's my job.**

 _ **The Police Commissioner removes his cap to undo the zip across his forehead. Blue light fills the flat.**_

 **STRICKLAND: Eliminating trouble.**

Rose sucked in some air.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **GANESH: That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!**

 **MARGARET: And who told you that, hmm? Me.**

 _ **Margaret reaches up to her hairline.**_

Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen, worried for just about everyone they had seen on the episode in the past five minutes.

 **INT. BRIEFING ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: This is all about us. Alien experts. The only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room.**

 _Please tell me they're not going to kill them. Please tell me they're not going to kill them._

 _ **Green farts.**_

 **DOCTOR: Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?**

 **GREEN: Would you rather silent but deadly?**

"Oh, they're so dead." Jack said in defeat.

 _ **General Asquith removes his cap and unzips his forehead. As Green laughs, the room fills with blue light and an alien starts to wriggle out of the skin suit. In the Cabinet office, Margaret does the same, flexing her three long fingers in relief.**_

 _ **Jackie comes out of her kitchen to see a similar sight. The aliens stand nearly eight feet tall with incongruous large black eyes in small baby faces.**_

"Okay…" Clara said slowly, "I've seen a lot of aliens, but these are just plain ugly."

 **ASQUITH: We are the Slitheen.**

River automatically profiled them for further notice on instinct.

 _ **Margaret grabs Ganesh in her massive talons and pushes him up against the wall.**_

Many people gasp at this.

 **GREEN: Thank you all for wearing your ID cards. They'll help to identify the bodies.**

 _ **Green holds up a remote activation switch, and the ID cards emit electric shocks to their wearers, including the Doctor.**_

Most people in the room aren't sure whether to be scared or angry, and settle for a panicked mixture of both.

 **NEXT TIME**

 **THAMES**

 **HITCHINSON [OC]: Yesterday saw the start of a brave, new world.**

 **EMBANKMENT**

 **HITCHINSON: Today might see it end.**

Jack tutted, trying to ease the tension in the room. "As quick as Cassandra's third husband."

The best it did was make everyone give him a look that said, "really?"

 **INT. ENTRANCE HALL**

 **DOCTOR: Oi! You want aliens, you got them. They're inside Downing Street.**

 _ **The Doctor claps his hands, then runs off, the soldiers following him.**_

Everyone felt partially relieved, seeing that at least the Doctor was back to his normal, chipper self.

 **OUTER OFFICE**

 _ **One of the Slitheen are chasing Rose and Harriet.**_

Immediately the mood dampens again.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **A Slitheen breaks through the door. Mickey is holding a baseball bat, and he and Jackie run backwards.**_

And dampens.

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **GREEN: Planet Earth is at war.**

And becomes so soggy that it might as well have gone through a downpour.

Except for River. River perks up immediately after that comment.

 _That must be what they're planning._ She thinks.

 **INT. 10 DOWNING STREET**

 _ **Three Slitheen run through an empty room.**_

 **DOWNING STREET**

 _ **Everyone is evacuating the building. One soldier outside shoots into the air.**_

 **SOLDIER: Everybody run!**

It didn't help the mood that everyone seemed to be so helpless in this "next time" trailer.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **A Slitheen is trying to bust through a door that Jackie is holding shut while Mickey piles things against it.**_

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor, Rose, and Harriet, and standing face-to-face with three Slitheen.**_

 **DOCTOR: Who exactly are the Slitheen?**

 **Harriet: They're aliens.**

"Yeah, I think we figured that bit out." Ten said.

 **INT. 10 DOWNING STREET**

 _ **Green is unzipping his forehead.**_

Clara bit her lip, and couldn't help but wonder in fright who the Slitheen's next victim would be.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: I could save the world but lose you.**

Everyone looked on, feeling something tug at their hearts. Already, they could see just how much of an impact Rose was having on the Doctor.

They waited, with baited breath, for the next episode to begin.

 **So, I added Sarah Jane Smith in because I was reminded that I had forgotten her, which quite frankly, I can't believe I did that. Because I love Sarah Jane. She is my spirit animal. So yeah, we've got a new addition to the feels party.**


	7. World War Three

**To the guest, Doctorsparkle: I'm probably going to have one stand-alone episode from a different season in each season. I probably won't be doing Torchwood or the Sarah Jane Adventures, since unfortunately I haven't seen either. But mainly because that would take a very long time and my main priority with this fanfiction is for the characters to watch Doctor Who.**

 **To the guest, Tirin: Yes, I'm going to have them all watch the episodes without pause because I feel like it's unnecessary to write them eating, sleeping, etc. So yeah, I guess you could say that they are time locked or something similar. And yes, I am planning on adding Bill once the last episode of season 10 has aired.**

 **Last but not least, to the guest who asked about Rose and Ten: I updated chapter one to add a bit with them :) I honestly didn't even notice I hadn't added a part like that in before, since I was planning to.**

They didn't have to wait long for the next episode to start.

 _ **We pick up right where we left off. The Doctor manages to rip off his ID card.**_

 **DOCTOR: Deadly to humans, maybe.**

All the companions cheered for the Doctor.

"There are quite a lot benefits that come with being a Time Lord, don't you think?" Rose asked.

"Maybe so, but there are also a lot of cons." Nine replied, thinking about life on Gallifrey.

 _ **And pushes it against the collar around the neck of the revealed Slitheen, enveloping it and Green with the electricity. They don't like it.**_

 _ **Neither does the one in the Cabinet Office or Jackie's kitchen. The Doctor, Rose and Harriet Jones make their escapes, but Jackie is still trapped.**_

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 _ **Mickey enters.**_

 **MICKEY: Jackie!**

"Ah, good Mickey-" Ten grinned "-there to save the day once again."

Nine looked at his future self in confusion. Did he get along with that stupid ape Rickey in the future?

 _ **He smashes a chair across the back of the Slitheen, grabs Jackie's hands and pulls her out of the kitchen. He stops in the doorway to take a photograph of it on his mobile phone.**_

"Ooh, good idea." River said.

 **INT. ENTRANCE HALL**

 **DOCTOR: Oi! If you want aliens, you've got them. They're inside Downing Street. Come on!**

 _ **The armed police follow him.**_

 **INT. BRIEFING ROOM**

 _ **Green manages to pull the ID card off 'Asquith's' collar, and the electricity stops.**_

 **ASQUITH: Reinstate my disguise. Hurry up! Hurry! Hurry!**

 _ **Green helps the Slitheen into the General's skin suit.**_

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **HARRIET: No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them.**

Amy looked at Harriet critically. "I think you need your lives more."

"Yeah, not much use if you're dead, are you?" Mickey added.

 _ **Rose and Harriet turn back, only to run into a Slitheen. The Slitheen chases them through a series of rooms, smashing through the oak doors.**_

"Oh my God," Donna said, "that is some strength."

"You know, you'd think that if they wanted to keep their disguise, they wouldn't go around smashing doors down." Jack said.

 **INT. BRIEFING ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor enters with the police just as Green finishes getting Asquith into his skin suit.**_

"Oh, great." Jack said. Now the Doctor wouldn't be able to convince the police that the General and the Prime Minister were aliens.

 **GREEN: Where have you been? I called for help. I sounded the alarm. There was this lightning, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed.**

 _ **The policemen check the bodies. The Welsh Sergeant speaks.**_

 **PRICE: I think they're all dead.**

 **GREEN: That's what I'm saying. He did it! That man there.**

"Why am I always getting accused of these kind of things?" Nine asked, exasperated.

"Probably the jumper." Rose teased.

 **DOCTOR: I think you will find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise. That's never going to work, is it?**

Everyone shook their heads.

 **POLICEMAN 2: No.**

 **DOCTOR: Fair enough.**

 _ **The Doctor runs.**_

"When in doubt-" Jack began.

"Run!" Everyone finished.

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 _ **And gets trapped between two lots of armed police.**_

"Now, you see, this is where a squareness gun would come in handy." Jack said.

"I think a sonic screwdriver does just fine, thank you." Eleven said.

"Not everything can be fixed with a screwdriver, Doc."

"Really? Because it's done a fantastic job so far." Nine said.

 **ASQUITH: Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorize you to execute this man.**

"Seriously?" Nine asked. "Why couldn't they just go for the jail cell?"

 **DOCTOR: Well, now, yes, you see, er, the thing is, if I was you, if I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, between you and me, little word of advice.**

 _ **The elevator door opens behind the Doctor.**_

 **DOCTOR: Don't stand them against the lift!**

 _ **He gets in and goes up.**_

There were some bouts of laughter and the Doctors grinned.

"That was-that was great!" Donna said in between laughs.

"I'll admit," Jack said, "you don't get that kind of humor with a squareness gun."

 **INT. FIRST FLOOR**

 _ **The lift doors open and the Slitheen is there.**_

 **DOCTOR: Hello!**

 _ **He distracts the Slitheen so that Rose and Harriet can get past behind it, then closes the lift door again.**_

Amy smiled. Leave it to the Doctor to always appear calm in the face of danger.

 **INT. SITTING ROOM**

 **ROSE: Hide!**

 _ **Rose hides behind the cabinet, Harriet behind the screen.**_

"That won't do any good," River said, "those aliens have a heightened sense of smell."

"You know what kind of aliens those are?" Nine asked River.

"Of course I do! Who doesn't?"

Nine sat back, not wanting to admit that he had forgotten.

 _ **The Doctor leaves the lift on the second floor.**_

 **CORRIDOR BY THE LIFT**

 **ASQUITH: I repeat, the upper floors are under quarantine. You will stay where you are. You will disregard all previous instructions. You will take your orders directly from me.**

 _ **The empty lift arrives and Asquith heads for it. Green follows him.**_

 **PRICE: Mister Green, sir. I'm sorry but you've got to come with me. We should evacuate the entire building.**

 **GREEN: Sergeant, have you read the Emergency Protocols?**

 **PRICE: No, sir.**

 **GREEN: Then don't question me. Seal off Number 10, secure the ground floor, and if the Doctor makes it downstairs - shoot on sight!**

"Why is it always shoot on sight?" Eleven asked. "Why not dance on sight or kiss on sight?"

"Doctor…" Amy said.

"What?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Never mind."

 _ **Green closes the lift doors.**_

 **PRICE: Well, you heard him. Move out!**

 **INT. LIFT**

 **ASQUITH: Let the sport begin.**

"Sport?" Martha asked. "They think of this as some sort of game?"

"And what do you humans think hunting is?" Eleven asked her.

"That's…" Martha was about to say that that was different, but then trailed off. It really wasn't all that different, was it?

 _ **Asquith farts.**_

 **GREEN: I'm getting poisoned by the gas exchange. I need to be naked.**

"God," Clara said, "the way they say it…"

 **ASQUITH: Rejoice in it. Your body is magnificent.**

"This is slightly awkward." Rose said.

"Also much more dangerous." River added. "They are much more physically capable without their skin suits. Exhibit A would be the broken oak doors."

 _ **Green unzips his body suit, then Asquith does likewise.**_

 **INT. SITTING ROOM**

 _ **The Slitheen Margaret enters.**_

 **MARGARET: Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips.**

Rose made a face. "Mmmm, no thanks. I'd rather not."

 **Rose makes it from the cabinet to behind a curtain.**

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 _ **The Doctor runs down the staircase and hides as the lift arrives on this floor. Two naked Slitheen walk out.**_

 **GREEN: It does us good to hunt. Purifies the blood.**

 **ASQUITH: We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase.**

"Final phase...what's the final phase?" Nine muttered to himself.

 **INT. SITTING ROOM**

 _ **Slitheens Green and Asquith enter.**_

 **MARGARET: My brothers.**

 **GREEN: Happy hunting?**

 **MARGARET: It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink.**

The humans in the room made faces of disgust and anger.

 **ASQUITH: Sweat and fear.**

 **GREEN: I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones.**

 **MARGARET: And a ripe youngster, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps.**

 _ **Margaret pulls back the curtain. Rose screams.**_

 **HARRIET: No! Take me first! Take me!**

Everyone looked on, astonished. Harriet was truly selfless, even if she was fragile.

 _ **The Doctor bursts in with a fire extinguisher. He sprays the male Slitheen with CO2.**_

 **DOCTOR: Out, with me!**

 _ **Rose pulls the curtain down over Margaret.**_

 **DOCTOR: Who the hell are you?**

 **HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North.**

"She sure does like introducing herself that way, doesn't she?" Sarah Jane said.

 **DOCTOR: Nice to meet you.**

 **HARRIET: Likewise.**

"Love a nice and formal introduction." Ten grinned.

 _ **The Doctor uses up the CO2 and they run out.**_

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **DOCTOR: We need to head to the Cabinet Room.**

 **HARRIET: The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens.**

 **DOCTOR: Harriet Jones, I like you.**

 **HARRIET: And I like you too.**

Everyone smiled. They couldn't help but also like Harriet. Ten, Eleven and Twelve smiled also. Harriet had been alright before she decided to blow up the Sycorax.

 _ **The Slitheen chase them through corridors and rooms.**_

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor grabs a decanter from a side table and stands in the doorway.**_

 **DOCTOR: One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off.**

 _ **The Slitheen take one step back in the outer office.**_

 **DOCTOR: Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?**

"You mean you can't tell?" River asked Nine.

"Listen, my memory hasn't exactly been at its best recently, so yeah, I might be lacking on information about alien races and planets." Nine, obviously agitated at being called out, said.

River gave a small bout of laughter and leaned back into the couch.

 **HARRIET: They're aliens.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes. I got that, thanks.**

 **GREEN: Who are you, if not human?**

 **HARRIET: Who's not human?**

 **ROSE: He's not human.**

 **HARRIET: He's not human?**

 **DOCTOR: Can I have a bit of hush?**

 **HARRIET: Sorry.**

 **DOCTOR: So, what's the plan?**

 **HARRIET: But he's got a Northern accent.**

 **ROSE: Lots of planets have a north.**

"That's my answer," Nine said, "get your own."

Rose stuck out her tongue at him.

 **DOCTOR: I said hush. Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?**

"I don't think it's much of an invasion when there's just, what? Four of them?" Clara decided.

"Maybe for now." Ten told her.

If it were possible, Clara would have paled.

 **ASQUITH: Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?**

"Oi!" Donna yelled out. "The next person to insult Earth is going to get a slap in the face!"

 **DOCTOR: Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?**

River facepalmed.

 **ASQUITH: The Slitheen race?**

 **GREEN: Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service.**

"If by 'at your service' he means 'going to kill you.'" Mickey said.

 **DOCTOR: So, you're family.**

 **GREEN: A family business.**

 **DOCTOR: Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?**

The Doctor got slapped.

 **ASQUITH: Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?**

 **DOCTOR: Is that what I said?**

"Oh, you're kidding me." Rory said, exasperated.

 **ASQUITH: You're making it up.**

 **DOCTOR: Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it.**

 _ **Harriet is clutching the Red Box.**_

 **HARRIET: You pass it to the left first.**

"Always one for formalities." Twelve said.

 **DOCTOR: Sorry.**

 **ROSE: Thanks.**

 **ASQUITH: Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter.**

 **ROSE: Don't you think we should run?**

"Yeah," Rory asked, "isn't that our go-to?"

 **DOCTOR: Fascinating history, Downing Street.**

"You're about to die and you're giving a history lesson?" Mickey asked.

"Rickey," Nine retorted, "maybe if you'd shut up you'd understand why."

 **DOCTOR: Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson.**

 _ **The Doctor lifts a small panel by the door and presses a button. Metal shutters crash shut across the windows and doors.**_

 **DOCTOR: Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in.**

 **ROSE: And how do we get out?**

 **DOCTOR: Ah.**

The companions groaned in annoyance. How could the Doctor have forgotten that important piece of information?

"Honestly," Rose began, "do you ever think things through?"

"I always think things through!" Nine defended. "You just don't know it 'till I'm done."

 **INT. OUTER OFFICE**

 **GREEN: He's safely contained. Now, cut off communications inside that room, then summon the family. It's time we finished with this insane planet for good.**

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **ANDREW MARR: And there's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals. That's group Captain Tennant James of the RAF, though why he's been summoned we've no idea. And that's Ewan McAllister, Deputy Secretary for the Scottish Parliament. And this is most unusual. I'm told that is Sylvia Dillane, Chairman of the North Sea Boating Club. Quite what connects these people, we have no idea.**

 **INT. ENTRANCE HALL**

 _ **The three Slitheen are back in their body suits.**_

 **MARGARET: Group Captain. Delighted you could make it. We're meeting upstairs.**

 _ **The Slitheen farts.**_

 **MARGARET: That's the spirit. Off you go. Good to see you. Come on through.**

Everyone looked on critically. The Slitheen acted as though this were only a family meeting.

 **ASQUITH: Ah, Sergeant. Now that the Doctor's been neutralised, the upper levels are out of bounds to everyone.**

 **SERGEANT: Then who are they?**

 **ASQUITH: Need to know, Sergeant. Need to know. I want you to liaise with Communications. The acting Prime Minister will be making a public address. He will speak to the nations of the world.**

The companions furrowed their eyebrows. What was the Slitheen going to say to everyone? Was this the final phase of their plan?

 **INT. CLOAK ROOM**

 _ **Sylvia goes into the blue lit toilets, while Margaret gets a coat hanger from a rack.**_

 **MARGARET: There you are. If you'd just like to go through and get changed.**

 _ **She takes a skin suit off an emerging Slitheen, who used to be Group Captain James.**_

 **MARGARET: Now, if you'd like to head down to the end of the corridor, it's first on the left.**

 **JAMES: Thank you.**

Mickey scoffed.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"It's just, they're acting so civilized now!"

Rose couldn't help but think about what Mickey was implying. If their enemies had been capable of civilized action, then were they capable of the type of destruction the Slitheen were after?

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Got anything stronger?**

 **MICKEY: No chance. I've seen you when you've had a few. This ain't time for a conga.**

Rose had to hold back a small laugh.

 **JACKIE: We've got to tell someone.**

 **MICKEY: Who do we trust? For all we know, they've all got big bog monsters inside of them. I mean, this is what he does, Jacks, that Doctor bloke. Everywhere he goes, death and destruction, and he's got Rose in the middle of it.**

"Doctor," Mickey turned to face Ten, "I'm sorry...about what I've been saying this episode. I was wrong, you didn't mean for any of that to happen."

Ten looked at Mickey. For a moment he didn't say anything, but then a soft "thank you" escaped.

 **JACKIE: Has he got a great big green thing inside him, then?**

 **MICKEY: I wouldn't put it past him. But like it or not, he's the only person who knows how to fight these things.**

 **JACKIE: I thought I was going to die.**

 _ **Jackie starts crying. Mickey gives her a quick, awkward hug.**_

 **MICKEY: Come on, yeah? If anyone's going to cry, it's going to be me. Now, you're safe in my flat, Jacks. No one's going to look for you here, especially since you hate me so much.**

 **JACKIE: You saved my life. God, that's embarrassing.**

Rose and Mickey started laughing.

 **MICKEY: You're telling me.**

 **JACKIE: He wanted me dead. And he's still out there, Mickey. That policeman. That thing.**

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 _ **Strickland is back in his skin suit.**_

 **STRICKLAND: Right, you head off. Inform Control I have got one or two things that still need doing. I haven't quite finished with Mrs. Tyler yet.**

Rose frowned and glared at the Slitheen.

 **INT. CLOAK ROOM**

 **McALLISTER: Soon.**

 **GREEN: Oh yes, soon.**

 _ **McAllister clumps away.**_

 **GREEN: Is that all of us?**

 **MARGARET: All the family except Sip Fel Fotch. He's found a hunt of his own.**

 **GREEN: Ah!**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor drags Ganesh's body into a small store room, where the late Anthony Blair is also laid out.**_

 **DOCTOR: What was his name?**

 **HARRIET: Who?**

 **DOCTOR: This one. The secretary or whatever he was called.**

The companions looked on, knowing the Doctor always wanted to know the name of everyone who died during an adventure.

 **HARRIET: I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name.**

 **DOCTOR: Sorry. Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?**

 **ROSE: No. This place is antique. What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?**

 **DOCTOR: He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans.**

 **ROSE: But the Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they fit inside?**

 **DOCTOR: That's the device around their necks. Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange.**

"Yes, but is it worth it?" Clara joked. "Honestly, they must stink."

 **ROSE: Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller.**

 **HARRIET: Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes.**

 **ROSE: Sorry. You get used to this stuff when you're friends with him.**

The Doctors frowned. That's not the sort of impact he wanted to make on his companions.

 **HARRIET: Well, that's a strange friendship.**

Sarah Jane chuckled. "You're telling me."

 **DOCTOR: Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?**

"Maybe for being Prime Minister." Donna said.

 **HARRIET: Oh, hardly.**

 **DOCTOR: Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?**

 **HARRIET: Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs.**

 **ROSE: Hasn't it got, like, defence codes and things? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?**

"I like your style." River grinned at Rose, who smiled back.

 **HARRIET: You're a very violent young woman.**

Jack let out a laugh.

 **ROSE: I'm serious. We could.**

 **HARRIET: Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations.**

 **DOCTOR: Say that again.**

 **HARRIET: What, about the codes?**

 **DOCTOR: Anything. All of it.**

"Ooh," Jack smiled, "someone's got an idea."

 **HARRIET: Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN.**

 **ROSE: Like that's ever stopped them.**

 **HARRIET: Exactly, given our past record. And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN. Is it important?**

 **DOCTOR: Everything's important.**

 **HARRIET: If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal.**

 **ROSE: What do they want, though?**

 **DOCTOR: Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World. They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset.**

 **HARRIET: Like what, gold? Oil? Water?**

 **DOCTOR: You're very good at this.**

"You know," Clara said to Twelve, "you were much better at talking with people in your ninth regeneration."

Twelve just rolled his eyes.

 **HARRIET: Thank you.**

 **DOCTOR: Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?**

 _ **Rose's phone beeps.**_

 **ROSE: Oh, that's me.**

 **HARRIET: But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?**

 **ROSE: He zapped it. Super phone.**

 **HARRIET: Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts.**

 **DOCTOR: Dead downstairs, yeah.**

 **ROSE: It's Mickey.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy.**

Mickey and Rose rolled their eyes.

 **ROSE: Yeah, he's not so stupid after all.**

 _ **Mickey has sent them a photo of a Slitheen.**_

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **Mickey is on the phone**_ **.**

 **MICKEY: No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!**

 **JACKIE: I could've died!**

Nine scoffed. The drama duo.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **ROSE: Is she all right, though? Don't put her on, just tell me.**

 _ **The Doctor takes Rose's phone.**_

 **DOCTOR: Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: It's Mickey, and why should I?**

"Because the world could end?" Martha said to Mickey.

"I'd say that's a fairly good reason." Sarah Jane said.

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you.**

"What're you smiling for?" Nine asked Rose.

"What?" She asked.

"I saw you on-screen, smiling, what's that all about?"

"Just nice to see you two getting along...in your own way."

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **Mickey is hacking into the UNIT website.**_

 **MICKEY: It says password.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 _ **The Doctor plugs the mobile phone into the conference phone speaker.**_

 **DOCTOR: Say again.**

 **MICKEY: It's asking for the password.**

 **DOCTOR: Buffalo. Two Fs, one L.**

"Don't even think about using that." Eleven addressed everyone in the room.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: So, what's that website?**

 **MICKEY: All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **MICKEY [OC]: They just kept us in the dark.**

 **DOCTOR: Mickey, you were born in the dark.**

Rose jabbed Nine with her elbow.

"And the time for getting along is over." Mickey said.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **ROSE [OC]: Oh, leave him alone.**

 **MICKEY: Thank you. Password again.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Just repeat it every time.**

 _ **Mickey hands the phone to Jackie.**_

 **DOCTOR: Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?**

 **HARRIET: You said to gather the experts, to kill them.**

 **DOCTOR: That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London.**

 **ROSE: The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on Red alert.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **ROSE [OC]: What would they do that for?**

 **JACKIE: Oh, listen to her.**

Clara frowned. It was true that Rose was beginning to sound like the Doctor, which led Clara to think about all the times she had spoken like that. What would her dad think of her running about, fighting aliens and risking her life?

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **ROSE: At least I'm trying.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **JACKIE [OC]: Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: In the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **JACKIE [OC]: In my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth.**

Twelve and Eleven looked down in shame. They couldn't help but believe it to be true that they ruined people's lives. Eleven looked to the Ponds. What would happen to them? What right did he have to meddle in their lives, happily married? Meanwhile, Twelve had his previous words replaying in his head: _Oh, Clara Oswald. What have I made of you?_

 **ROSE: I told you what happened.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **JACKIE [OC]: And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?**

This time it was all the Doctors who felt shameful. With his lifestyle, his companions could never be safe. They would always be put in danger and in harm's way. And yet he invited them aboard his ship and plays with their lives.

The companions were trying to comfort their Doctors, and tell them that it was their choice to go with him, and that they wouldn't trade it for anything.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **ROSE: I'm fine.**

 **JACKIE: Is she safe?**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **JACKIE [OC]: Well, what's the answer?**

The companions felt bad, knowing that the Doctor could never say yes to that.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **Mickey takes back the phone.**_

 **MICKEY: We're in.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **The screen changes from a map of the world to an oscilloscope reading, with sound.**_

 **MICKEY: What is it?**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: He'll have to answer me one day.**

 **MICKEY: Hush!**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: It's some sort of message.**

 **ROSE: What's it say?**

 **DOCTOR: Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating.**

Twelve was reminded for a millisecond about the message the Time Lords were beaming out on Trenzalore.

 _ **Mickey's doorbell rings.**_

 **DOCTOR: Hush!**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: That's not me. Go and see who that is.**

 **JACKIE: It's three o'clock in the morning.**

 **MICKEY: Well, go and tell them that.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: It's beaming out into space, who's it for?**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: All right!**

 _ **Jackie opens the front door.**_

 **STRICKLAND: Mrs. Tyler.**

Everyone either gasped or sucked in some air.

 _ **She slams it shut again and runs back to Mickey.**_

 **JACKIE: It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!**

 **MICKEY: They've found us.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Mickey, I need that signal.**

"They could die!" Donna was surprised at Nine's priorities.

 **ROSE: Never mind the signal, get out! Mum-**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **Mickey grabs a handy baseball bat.**_

 **ROSE [OC]: Just get out! Get out!**

 **MICKEY: We can't. It's by the front door.**

 _ **Outside, it starts to unzip its body suit.**_

 **MICKEY: Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **HARRIET: There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!**

 **DOCTOR: I'm trying!**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **MICKEY [OC]: Just run.**

Once again, everyone was surprised at someone's selflessness, except this time it was Mickey's.

 _ **Sounds of the front door splintering.**_

 **ROSE: That's my mother.**

 **DOCTOR: Right, If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!**

 **ROSE: They're green.**

 **DOCTOR: Yep, narrows it down.**

 **ROSE: Good sense of smell.**

 **DOCTOR: Narrows it down.**

 **ROSE: They can smell adrenalin.**

 **DOCTOR: Narrows it down.**

 **HARRIET: The pig technology.**

 **DOCTOR: Narrows it down.**

 **ROSE: The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?**

 **DOCTOR: Narrows it down.**

"How many planets have you got in that head of yours?" Clara asked incredulously.

"Enough to make your mind burn." Nine answered.

Eleven and Twelve flinched at Nine's choice of words and looked guiltily at Donna.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: It's getting in!**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **ROSE: They hunt like it's a ritual.**

 **DOCTOR: Narrows it down.**

 **HARRIET: Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er-**

 **ROSE: Bad breath!**

 **HARRIET: That's it!**

 **DOCTOR: Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!**

 **ROSE: We're getting there, Mum!**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: Too late!**

"It hasn't even gotten through the door yet."

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!**

"Raxa-what?" Clara asked.

"Raxacoricofu-fa...dear Lord." Sarah Jane tried and failed to pronounce the name.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter.**

"Sarcasm is brilliant for whenever you're stressed, isn't it?" Sarah Jane noted.

 _ **The front door finally falls apart.**_

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Get into the kitchen!**

"What're you gonna do?" Jack asked. "Cook it a meal and hope it will settle for eating that instead?"

Mickey lightly slapped Jack on the shoulder.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **They do, and try to barricade the door.**_

 **JACKIE: My God, it's going to rip us apart!**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!**

 **HARRIET: Just like Hannibal!**

"Hannibal?" Clara asked.

"Hannibal." Was all Twelve said.

"Okay."

 **DOCTOR: Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: How should I know?**

"It's your kitchen." Martha said.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: It's your kitchen.**

 **ROSE: Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf.**

"Can't believe I know your kitchen better than you do." Rose sighed.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 _ **Jackie takes the phone.**_

 **JACKIE: Oh, give it here. What do you need?**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Anything with vinegar!**

 _ **Jackie grabs a large jug and starts pouring stuff in.**_

 **JACKIE: Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: And you kiss this man?**

Everyone except Mickey laughed a little.

 _ **The Slitheen breaks in. Jackie throws the vile contents of the jug over it. It stops, farts, then explodes, redecorating the kitchen in green innards.**_

"Oh, gross." Martha said.

"I think I actually got some in my mouth." Mickey said, disgruntled.

Everyone made disgusted sounds, and Jack said "too much information."

 **ROSE: Hannibal?**

 **HARRIET: Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar.**

 **ROSE: Oh. Well, there you go then.**

 _ **They all toast the moment with a glass of port from the decanter.**_

 **INT. ENTRANCE LOBBY**

 **ASQUITH: He's dead. Sip Fel Fotch Passameer-Day-Slitheen is dead.**

 **GREEN: I felt it. How could that happen?**

 **ASQUITH: Somebody must have got lucky.**

 **GREEN: That's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have.**

"Well," Jack said, "at least they care for family."

The companions looked at him as though he were nuts.

 **DOWNING STREET**

 _ **Green and Asquith go outside to make the promised broadcast.**_

Everyone leaned forward, listening intently to what the Slitheen had to say.

 **GREEN: Ladies and gentlemen, nations of the world, humankind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They gathered in the common cause, but the news I bring you now is grave indeed.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **GREEN [on TV]: The experts are dead, murdered right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the Earth, heed my words. These visitors do not come in peace.**

 **MICKEY: Listen to this.**

 _ **He holds the phone in front of the television.**_

 **GREEN [on TV]: Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads**

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **GREEN: And they have found massive weapons of destruction**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **GREEN [OC]: Capable of being deployed within forty five seconds.**

 **DOCTOR: What?**

"I'm guessing that's a lie, then." Sarah Jane predicted.

The Doctors nodded.

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **GREEN: Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **GREEN [OC]: We are facing extinction, unless we strike first.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **GREEN [OC]: The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship.**

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **GREEN: I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **GREEN [OC]: Heart of the beast is our only chance of survival**

 **DOWNING STREET**

 **GREEN: Because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war.**

"So that's what they're after." River said. "The access codes."

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it.**

 **HARRIET: Do you think they'll believe him?**

 **ROSE: They did last time.**

 **DOCTOR: That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out.**

 **ROSE: They release the defence code**

 **DOCTOR: And the Slitheen go nuclear.**

 **HARRIET: But why?**

 _ **The Doctor opens the metal shutters.**_

 **DOCTOR: You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked.**

"That is downright despicable." Sarah Jane said. "Tricking humanity into destroying themselves."

Everyone nodded, eyes trained on the screen.

 **MARGARET: And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away.**

 **HARRIET: But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?**

 **DOCTOR: Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert.**

"Everything comes down to money." Ten sighed, quoting his former self.

 **MARGARET: The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel.**

 **DOCTOR: At the cost of five billion lives.**

 **MARGARET: Bargain.**

Everyone became outraged at the Slitheens. Clara was comparing them to Cassandra and trying to see who was worse.

 **DOCTOR: I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you.**

 **MARGARET: What, you? Trapped in your box?**

"Yes. Him." The companions spoke, and the Doctors felt a swell of pride.

 **DOCTOR: Yes. Me.**

 _ **The Doctor closes the shutters on Margaret's laughing face, and she starts to worry.**_

 **WESTMINSTER BRIDGE**

 _ **Next morning.**_

 **HITCHINSON: Yesterday saw the start of a brave new world. Today might see it end. The streets are deserted. Everyone's home, just waiting, as the future is decided in New York.**

 **OUTSIDE THE UN**

 **WOMAN [OC]: It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **WOMAN [on TV]: The Security Council will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes, and once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins.**

Sarah Jane swallowed. She didn't like the sound of that.

 **INT. ENTRANCE LOBBY**

 **GREEN: Sergeant. We'll take the call in the Prime Minister's office. Maintain your positions. Good luck.**

 **INT. PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE**

 **MARGARET: Oh, look at that. The telephone is actually red.**

A lot of the companions became confused at the Slitheen's excitement over something so small. Up until that point, all they had become excited over was killing.

 _ **Green farts as he sits down.**_

 **GREEN: How long till they phone?**

 **ASQUITH: Counting down.**

 _ **There is a handful of Smarties by the phone.**_

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: All right, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **HARRIET: If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid.**

 **ROSE: Mickey, any luck?**

 **MICKEY: There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail.**

 **HARRIET: Voicemail dooms us all.**

 **ROSE: If we could just get out of here.**

 **DOCTOR: There's a way out.**

 **ROSE: What?**

 **DOCTOR: There's always been a way out.**

River sighed heavily. "It's incredibly dangerous, isn't it?"

Eleven zipped his lips.

 **ROSE: Then why don't we use it?**

 **DOCTOR: Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **JACKIE [OC]: Dare.**

 **DOCTOR: That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies.**

 **ROSE: Do it.**

 **DOCTOR: You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?**

 **ROSE: Yeah.**

Nine marveled at Rose's trust in him. Sometimes he felt like Rose was made for his kind of life, and he couldn't help but smile.

 **JACKIE [OC]: Please**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will.**

Clara watched, interested. She remembered asking her Doctor if he loved being the man making the impossible decisions, and his answer from then seemed to be matching up with the Ninth Doctor's words for the most part.

 **ROSE: Then what're you waiting for?**

 **DOCTOR: I could save the world but lose you.**

The companions watched intently. Even though they knew that Rose couldn't go yet, seeing as the tenth Doctor had yet to appear in the show, the Doctor's words still struck them, leaving them wondering if anyone else was going to die.

 **HARRIET: Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: And who the hell are you?**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it.**

Everyone smiled softly. Harriet's life was in danger there, too. And yet she chose others lives above her own.

 **INT. PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE**

 **GREEN: Victory should be naked!**

"Jack, don't you dare." Ten said when Jack opened his mouth.

 _ **Green, Margaret and Asquith unzip their body suits.**_

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **ROSE: How do we get out?**

 **DOCTOR: We don't. We stay here.**

"You do realize that is the opposite of getting out, right?" Jack asked the Doctor.

"Yeah, yeah. Just watch." Ten said.

 _ **The Doctor gets the Emergency Protocols from the Red Box.**_

 **US TV STUDIO**

 **WOMAN: The Council is voting. The results should be known any second now.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: What're you doing?**

 **MICKEY: Hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth.**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Right, we need to select a missile.**

"Oh, you're not." River said in disbelief.

"Kinda did." Eleven scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

 **MICKEY: We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defence codes.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: What's the first category?**

 **MICKEY: Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: That's the one. Select.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **JACKIE: I could stop you.**

 **MICKEY: Do it, then.**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: You ready for this?**

 **MICKEY: Yeah.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **DOCTOR: Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands.**

"That's not very reassuring." Jack said.

"Shut it, Captain Cheesecake." Mickey retorted.

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Fire.**

 _ **Mouse click. A missile launches from below the sea and heads for its target.**_

 **JACKIE: Oh, my God.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **HARRIET: How solid are these?**

 **DOCTOR: Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big.**

 **ROSE: All right, now I'm making the decision. I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on.**

"You go, girl." Martha said.

 _ **Harriet does, as the missile heads up the Channel.**_

 **US TV STUDIO**

 **WOMAN: The vote is in. The Council says yes. They are releasing the codes.**

 **INT. PRIME MINISTER OFFICE**

 _ **All the Slitheen family are gathered.**_

 **GREEN: Ring, damn you.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S FLAT**

 **MICKEY: It's on radar.**

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 _ **Rose and Harriet are emptying the cupboard.**_

 **MICKEY [OC]: Counter defence five five six.**

 **DOCTOR: Stop them intercepting it.**

 **INT. MICKEY'S ROOM**

 **MICKEY: I'm doing it now.**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Good boy.**

"Tin dog…" Mickey mumbled.

 **INT. CABINET ROOM**

 **MICKEY [OC]: Five five six neutralised.**

 _ **The Doctor unplugs the phone as the missile heads inland over Seven Sisters.**_

 **INT. SECURITY OFFICE**

 **PRICE: What do you mean, incoming?**

 _ **A man points at the graphic on his computer screen.**_

 **INT. ENTRANCE HALL**

 _ **Price sets off a fire alarm.**_

 **PRICE: Everybody out now! Now!**

 _ **He runs up the stairs.**_

 **INT. PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE**

 **GREEN: What the hell is that for?**

 _ **Sergeant Price bursts in.**_

 **PRICE: Sir, there's a missile!**

"Shock of his life, probably." Sarah Jane let out a small laugh.

 _ **And sees the Slitheen.**_

 **PRICE: Sorry.**

Everyone laughed a little at this.

 _ **He runs away. The missile approaches the Thames from the south. Jackie watches it pass from Mickey's balcony. Meanwhile, the Slitheen squabble over the body suits.**_

 **SLITHEEN 1: That's mine! You've got mine!**

 **SLITHEEN 2: Disguise me! Disguise me!**

 **SLITHEEN 3: You're the blonde. I want the other one.**

 **SLITHEEN 1: Take it off!**

Clara shook her head. "They sound like the kids I used to nanny."

 **DOWNING STREET**

 _ **Price fires a shot into the air as his men and the remains of the Downing Street staff run out of the building.**_

 **PRICE: Everybody run!**

 _ **The missile begins its descent.**_

 **INT. CABINET ROOM CUPBOARD**

 **HARRIET: Here we go. Nice knowing you both. Hannibal!**

 **INT. PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE**

 **SLITHEEN: Oh, boll-**

 _ **KaBOOM! The iconic front door blows off in a fireball. The cupboard shakes then rolls through the remains of the building inside its steel shell.**_

 **INT. DOWNING STREET**

 _ **The Doctor pushes the steel door off and Harriet steps out.**_

Everyone lets out a breath and smiles widely. Once again, they were victorious.

 **HARRIET: Made in Britain.**

 **PRICE: Oh, my God. Are you all right?**

 **HARRIET: Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news.**

 **PRICE: Yes, ma'am.**

 **HARRIET: Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister.**

 **DOCTOR: Maybe you should have a go.**

"Of course you influenced her." River said.

 **HARRIET: Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher.**

 **ROSE: I'd vote for you.**

 **HARRIET: Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!**

 _ **Harriet make her way down the pile of rubble.**_

 **HARRIET: We're safe! The Earth is safe!**

 **WHITEHALL**

 **HARRIET: Sergeant!**

 **DOCTOR: I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age.**

 **HARRIET: The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today! Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 _ **Jackie embraces Rose as the Doctor returns to the Tardis. A little later...**_

 **HARRIET [on TV]: Mankind stands tall, proud**

 **JACKIE: Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you on there. My daughter saved the world!**

Everyone laughed at Jackie's pride.

 **ROSE: I think the Doctor helped a bit.**

 **JACKIE: All right, then. Him too. You should be given knighthoods.**

 **ROSE: That's not the way he does things. No fuss. He just moves on. He's not that bad if you gave him a chance.**

 **JACKIE: He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that.**

 **ROSE: Oh, now the world has changed. You're saying nice things about him.**

The Doctors grinned.

 **JACKIE: Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated.**

 **ROSE: I'm not infatuated.**

"You are." Mickey said.

"Definitely." Jack piped up, too.

"I'd say, yeah." Donna joined in as well.

 **JACKIE: What does he eat?**

 **ROSE: How do you mean?**

 **JACKIE: I was going to do shepherd's pie. All of us. A proper sit down, 'cos I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you and him and that life you lead. Only, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things.**

"Oh, please, that's just ridiculous." Eleven dismissed.

"So is the rest of the universe." Clara retorted.

Eleven held up a finger and opened his mouth to respond, but found that he couldn't come up with a good enough comeback.

 **ROSE: He'll have shepherd pie. You're going to cook for him?**

 **JACKIE: What's wrong with that?**

 **ROSE: He's finally met his match.**

 **JACKIE: You're not too old for a slap, you know. You can go and visit your Gran tomorrow. You'd better learn some French. I told her you were in France. I said you were au-pairing.**

 _ **Rose answers her phone. The caller ID says TARDIS calling.**_

 **ROSE: Hello?**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: You've got a phone?**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: You think I can travel**

 **INT. TARIDS**

 _ **The Doctor is speaking into a 1970s Trimphone.**_

 **DOCTOR: Through space and time and I haven't got a phone? Like I said, couple of hours. I've just got to send out this dispersal. There you go. That's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: Er, my mother's cooking.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer.**

Rose gave Nine a proper slap for that one.

"Don't even think about acting like you didn't deserve that." Rose warned him.

 **ROSE [OC]: She's cooking tea. For us.**

 **DOCTOR: I don't do that.**

"You do with us." Amy said.

"Are you kidding? You actually get him to have a proper sit-down with you?" Rose asked.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, quite a few times, actually."

Clara giggled. "The only time I got him," she gestured to Eleven, "to come over my place was for Christmas dinner. You will never guess what he did."

"Oh, God, what did he do?" Rose asked Clara.

"He showed up naked."

"What?" Rose was astounded.

"What the hell, Doctor?" Amy asked Eleven, who's face was bright red.

"Honestly, Doctor," River said, "the things you get up to."

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: She wants to get to know you.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Tough. I've got better things to do.**

Clara huffed. "You could have worded it more delicately."

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: It's just tea.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Not to me it isn't.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **ROSE: She's my mother.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Well, she's not mine.**

All the Doctors made a face at the thought of Jackie being their mother.

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **ROSE: That's not fair.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Well, you can stay there if you want, but right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula.**

The companions all perked up.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Fires are burning ten million miles wide.**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out.**

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Hurtle right across the sky and end up**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Anywhere. Your choice.**

"You've got to go with him." Amy demanded.

"That sounds incredible." Sarah Jane added.

"Next time there's a plasma storm, tell me, 'cos we're going." Clara ordered Twelve.

 **INT. TYLER FLAT**

 **JACKIE: Rose, I was thinking. I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Does he drink?**

 _ **Rose is in her bedroom, packing a rucksack.**_

 **JACKIE: I was wondering whether he drinks or not.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, he does.**

 **JACKIE: Don't go, sweetheart. Please don't go.**

Everyone immediately felt bad for telling Rose to go with the Doctor and choose him over her mother.

 **POWELL ESTATE**

 _ **Mickey is sitting on a rubbish bin reading the newspaper while the young boy is finishing cleaning off the Bad Wolf tag.**_

 **DOCTOR: Good lad. Graffiti that again and I'll have you. Now, beat it.**

"Well, at least you're better with children in this regeneration." Clara said to Twelve.

 _ **The boy runs off with his bucket and scrubbing brush.**_

 **MICKEY: I just went down the shop, and I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is.**

 _ **The Evening Standard headline is - Alien Hoax.**_

River and Jack shook their heads. The world just wasn't ready yet.

 **MICKEY: How could they do that? They saw it.**

 **DOCTOR: They're just not ready. You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face, nope, can't see it. There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick.**

 **MICKEY: We're just idiots.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, not all of you.**

Nine pressed his lips into a thin line. After seeing what Mickey did this episode, he supposed he was ready to treat the poor boy a little better now.

 **MICKEY: Yeah?**

 **DOCTOR: Present for you, Mickey.**

 _ **He gives Mickey a CD.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's a virus. Put it online. It'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist.**

"Didn't you do that with us, as well?" Amy asked Eleven, who nodded.

 **MICKEY: What do you want to do that for?**

 **DOCTOR: Because you're right, I am dangerous. I don't want anybody following me.**

 _ **Jackie and Rose come out of the block.**_

 **MICKEY: How can you say that and then take her with you?**

 **DOCTOR: You could look after her. Come with us.**

Rose looked at Nine, astonished. She had thought that it was the tenth regeneration's change in personality that led him to get along with Mickey, but it turns out that they started getting along even before that.

 **MICKEY: I can't. This life of yours, it's just too much. I couldn't do it. Don't tell her I said that.**

 **JACKIE: I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will.**

 **ROSE: I'm not leaving because of you. I'm travelling, that's all, and then I'll come back.**

 **JACKIE: But it's not safe.**

 **ROSE: Mum, if you saw it out there you'd never stay home.**

The companions couldn't help but agree. The universe was pretty darn amazing.

 **DOCTOR: Got enough stuff?**

Ten huffed. "You think that's a lot. You should have seen Donna when she first came aboard."

Donna shrugged. "I like to be prepared."

"Prepared for the planet of the hats?" Ten joked.

"Well, what can I say? I hadn't been to any planet besides Earth at that point."

 **ROSE: Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with me.**

 _ **Rose gives the Doctor her rucksack and goes to Mickey.**_

 **ROSE: Come with us. There's plenty of room.**

 **DOCTOR: No chance. He's a liability, I'm not having him on board.**

 **ROSE: We'd be dead without him.**

 **DOCTOR: My decision is final.**

 **ROSE: Sorry.**

 _ **Rose and Mickey kiss goodbye.**_

 **MICKEY: Good luck, yeah.**

 **JACKIE: You still can't promise me. What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and she's left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?**

 **ROSE: Mum, you're forgetting. It's a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe, and by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds' time, yeah?**

 _ **Jackie and Rose hug, then Rose follows the Doctor into the Tardis. Mickey gives a little wave. The Tardis dematerializes. Jackie looks at her watch.**_

Everyone sits, waiting for the TARDIS to reappear.

 **JACKIE: Ten seconds.**

 _ **Jackie goes back to the flats. Mickey carries on reading the newspaper.**_

"Either the Doctor's flying has gone wonky again, or…" River didn't want to finish her sentence.

 **NEXT TIME**

 **INT. MUSEUM**

 **ROSE: It's a great big museum.**

 **DOCTOR: An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby.**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: The cage contains my one living specimen.**

"That's sick!" Martha cried out. "Who would keep an alien locked in a cage?"

Doctors Ten, Eleven, and Twelve wondered if Martha would have reacted differently had she known it was a Dalek in the cage, but decided not to dwell too much on that.

 **INT. LIFT**

 **DOCTOR: It must have fallen through time, the only survivor.**

Nine furrowed his eyebrows. Survivor of what?

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **ROSE: It's killing him. Do something!**

 **INT. DOCTOR'S CAGE**

 **DOCTOR: I swear, no one on this base is safe.**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: You've got to keep it in that cell.**

Donna knit her eyebrows together in confusion. The Doctor wanted an alien to be kept as a prisoner? That didn't sound like him.

 **GUARD [on screen]: It can't get out. That lock's got a billion combinations.**

"Something tells me that's not enough…" Mickey said.

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **DE MAGGIO: Civilians! Let them through!**

 **DOCTOR: That thing downstairs is gonna kill every last one of us.**

Everyone besides the obvious leaned forward, wondering what the thing downstairs was and why the Doctor sounded so sure and desperate.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: What's the nearest town?**

 **VAN STATTEN: Salt Lake City.**

 **DOCTOR: Population?**

 **VAN STATTEN: One million.**

 **DOCTOR: All dead.**

"My God." Clara half-murmured. "Whatever threat you're facing is ridiculous."

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: If you want orders, follow this one.**

 **DOCTOR: Why don't you just die?!**

The companion's eyes and Nine's widened.

"Oh my God…" Martha said.

"What the hell, Doctor?" Donna added.

 **INT. LEVEL 46**

 **ROSE: We're nearly there. Just give us two seconds.**

 **INT. CAGE**

 **DOCTOR: I've come to help. I'm the Doctor.**

 _ **Lights turn on to reveal a Dalek.**_

Gasps ran throughout the room, and some people even jumped a little in their seats

"No, it can't be…" Nine whispered, eyes glued to the TV.

 **DALEK: Exterminate!**

Everyone had chills go down their spine.

 **DOCTOR: Impossible.**

 **DALEK: Exterminate!**

Nobody dared speak in fear that somehow, the Dalek on the screen would notice them.


	8. Dalek

**I am soooo sorry for the lack of updates as of late. There have been some emergency family matters that I've needed to attend to, and in fact they're not quite over yet so the lack of updates will probably continue for a little while. However, I'm hoping the whole thing will blow over quickly so that I'll be able to get back to doing this fanfiction and other than that, nothing productive. Just remember that even though I haven't updated in a while, I'm still working on this fic as much as I can.**

 **INT. MUSEUM**

 _ **The TARDIS materializes. The Doctor and Rose step out.**_

 **ROSE: So what is it? What's wrong?**

Everyone stared at the screen and hoped that the Doctor and Rose would get right back in the TARDIS and leave, as though willing them to do so would make it happen.

 **DOCTOR: Don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course.**

 **ROSE: Where are we?**

 **DOCTOR: Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground.**

 **ROSE: And when are we?**

 **DOCTOR: Two thousand and twelve.**

Amy smiled, knowing that was the time which she had come from.

"Hm," Clara began, "not that long ago. Well, for me at least."

"What time are you from?" Rose asked her.

"Two-thousand fifteen." Clara informed Rose.

"Yeah?" Amy asked. "Rory and I are from two-thousand twelve."

"Two thousand and nine." Mickey, Sarah Jane and Donna said in sync.

"Fifty-first century." Jack smirked.

"What about you, River?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I was born in the fifty-second century," River shared, "but I've done a lot of time-hopping since then."

 _ **He looks at a display case.**_

 **ROSE: God, that's so close. So I should be twenty-six.**

 _ **The Doctor finds the light switch, and things become more clear.**_

 **ROSE: Blimey. It's a great big museum.**

 **DOCTOR: An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby. They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust. That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship.**

 **ROSE: That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm. It's been stuffed.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, look at you.**

 _ **The Doctor looks at the head of a cyberman.**_

"Is that a Cyberman?" Clara asked, vaguely recognizing it. "Blimey, they sure have upgraded over the years, haven't they?"

"You mean to tell me they're even worse where you're at?" Nine asked, incredulous and hoping he was wrong.

To his horror, Clara nodded her head.

 **ROSE: What is it?**

 **DOCTOR: An old friend of mine.**

Jack snorted.

 **DOCTOR: Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old.**

"You're already old." Clara teased Nine.

"Says the woman who travels with my oldest self yet." Nine shot back, then said to Twelve, "hey, Doctor! You need some hair dye? You've got quite a bit of gray there."

Twelve simply leaned back and rolled his eyes.

Clara looked between the two Doctors with a smile. One thing she liked about hers so much was how little a chance there was that he would make a fuss, unlike all the others, who were so sensitive.

 **ROSE: Is that where the signal's coming from?**

 **DOCTOR: No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help.**

The companions and Nine all frowned in anger, believing it to be something that was being harassed by the Daleks.

The other Doctors all were watching intensely, remembering how conflicted they were in that trip with their morals and the Dalek.

 _ **The Doctor touches the display case and an alarm goes off. Armed guards rush in from all sides and cut them off from the TARDIS.**_

Sarah Jane sighed. "You never learn, do you?"

"No," Amy agreed, "he always lets curiosity get the best of him."

 **ROSE: If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A.**

The Doctors all imagined themselves standing in a display case, then immediately shook the thought out of their heads.

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

" **DALEK"**

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **TANNOY: Attention all personnel. Bad Wolf One descending. Bad Wolf One descending.**

"Why does that phrase keep popping up?" Donna asked.

"Spoilers, I presume." River said.

 _ **A helicopter has landed. Four armed guards line the corridor as a man and his aides stride out of a doorway.**_

 **POLKOWSKI: On behalf of all of us, I want to wish you a very happy birthday, sir. And the President called to convey his personal best wishes.**

 **VAN STATTEN: The President is ten points down. I want him replaced.**

Everybody frowned, immediately disliking Van Statten.

 **POLKOWSKI: I don't think that's very wise, sir.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Thank you so much for your opinion. You're fired. Get rid of him.**

Some of the people in the room even had to gape at that. Those who didn't gape had their frowns deepened.

 **POLKOWSKI: What?**

 _ **An armed guard drags Polkowski away.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: Wipe his memory, put him on the road someplace. Memphis, Minneapolis. Somewhere beginning with M.**

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Clara asked, outraged. "You can't just wipe someone's memory and abandon them because they gave their opinion!"

Others nodded fiercely. This Van Statten was too arrogant for their liking.

 _ **A woman runs up to take Polkowski's place.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: So, the next President. What do you think? Republican or Democrat?**

 **GODDARD: Democrat, sir.**

 **VAN STATTEN: For what reason?**

 **GODDARD: They're just so funny, sir?**

 _ **Van Statten stops.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: What is your name?**

 **GODDARD: Goddard, sir. Diana Goddard.**

 **VAN STATTEN: I like you, Diana Goddard. So, where's the English kid?**

 **ADAM: Sir! Sir! I bought ten more artifacts at auction, Mister Van Statten.**

"Look, Rose, it's your boyfriend." Ten muttered jokingly to Rose, who slapped him playfully on the arm.

 **VAN STATTEN: Bring 'em on, let me see 'em.**

 **GODDARD: Sir, with respect, there's something more urgent. We arrested two intruders fifty three floors down. We don't know how they got in.**

 **VAN STATTEN: I'll tell you how they got in. In-tru-da window. In-tru-da window. That was funny!**

 _ **Obedient laughter.**_

Amy shook her head. "I don't think I can handle much more of this guy."

 **VAN STATTEN: Bring 'em in. Let's see 'em.**

There were some who scrunched up their faces at Van Statten talking about people the same way he talked about his artifacts.

 **VAN STATTEN: And tell Simmons I want to visit my little pet. Get to it!**

 _ **Van Statten goes through a doorway. Goddard steps aside to use her headset.**_

 **GODDARD: Simmons? You'd better give me good news. Is it talking?**

 **INT. CAGE**

 _ **Something with blue vision is screaming while a man wearing a protective suit wields a chainsaw on itself.**_

Everyone was startled at the sudden shift from the boring, overbearing Van Statten to the screaming voice they could quickly identify as a Dalek's.

"Oh my God," Mickey said, " _that's_ Van Statten's pet?"

 **SIMMONS: Not exactly talking, no.**

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **GODDARD: Then what's it doing?**

 **INT. CAGE**

 **SIMMONS: Screaming. Is that any good?**

 _ **He resumes to use the chainsaw and the Dalek begins screaming again.**_

Despite reassurances from themselves that a Dalek was evil and totally deserved this, a lot of people began to feel bad for the alien, which they found hard to accept.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 _ **Adam is showing his boss the latest purchases.**_

 **ADAM: And this is the last. Paid eight hundred thousand dollars for it.**

 _ **The Doctor, Rose and Goddard enter.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: What does it do?**

 **ADAM: Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel.**

 **DOCTOR: I really wouldn't hold it like that.**

 **GODDARD: Shut it.**

 **DOCTOR: Really, though, that's wrong.**

 **ADAM: Is it dangerous?**

 **DOCTOR: No, it just looks silly.**

 _ **The Doctor reaches for the item, and firing bolts click all around him.**_

"Why do I always get a gun pointed at me for the simplest things?" Eleven asked.

"And by simple you mean trespassing." Amy said.

"Or stealing." River added.

"Or any other illegal act." Rory finished.

 _ **Van Stratton hands him the curved, palm sized object.**_

 **DOCTOR: You just need to be-**

 _ **The Doctor strokes the artifact and it makes a note.**_

 **DOCTOR: Delicate.**

 _ **He plays several different notes.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: It's a musical instrument.**

 **DOCTOR: And it's a long way from home.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Here, let me.**

 _ **Van Statten's touch is harsher. Not nice sounds are produced.**_

 **DOCTOR: I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision.**

 _ **Van Statten finally gets the hang of it.**_

 **DOCTOR: Very good. Quite the expert.**

 **VAN STATTEN: As are you.**

"I have a feeling he doesn't really like not being the only expert in the room." Mickey said.

 _ **Van Statton casually tosses it aside, onto the floor.**_

Everyone felt anger swell in them.

 **VAN STATTEN: Who exactly are you?**

 **DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor. And who are you?**

 **VAN STATTEN: Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake.**

Nine quoted his future self by saying, "pretty much sums me up, yeah."

 **DOCTOR: Pretty much sums me up, yeah.**

"I hate it when you do that." Donna grumbled.

 **VAN STATTEN: The question is, how did you get in? Fifty three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplice. You're quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty.**

Everyone scowled.

 **ROSE: She's going to smack you if you keep calling her she.**

 **VAN STATTEN: She's English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend.**

 **ADAM: This is Mister Henry Van Statten.**

 **ROSE: And who's he when he's at home?**

 **ADAM: Mister Van Statten owns the internet.**

"No one owns the internet." Amy said.

"And let's keep everyone thinking that." Jack said.

 **ROSE: Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet.**

 **VAN STATTEN: And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?**

Amy and Jack looked at each other oddly.

 **DOCTOR: So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up.**

 **VAN STATTEN: And you claim greater knowledge?**

 **DOCTOR: I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am.**

"I swear," Sarah Jane said, shaking her head, "you and your ego."

 **VAN STATTEN: And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?**

 **DOCTOR: You tell me.**

 **VAN STATTEN: The cage contains my one living specimen.**

 **DOCTOR: And what's that?**

 **VAN STATTEN: Like you don't know.**

 **DOCTOR: Show me.**

 **VAN STATTEN: You want to see it?**

 **ROSE: Blimey, you can smell the testosterone.**

Everyone laughed at Rose's attempt to lift the mood.

 **VAN STATTEN: Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet.**

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **VAN STATTEN: We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside.**

 **DOCTOR: Inside? Inside what?**

 **SIMMONS: Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting.**

 **DOCTOR: Metaltron?**

"That sounds like a thing from Power Rangers." Jack said, dull.

 **VAN STATTEN: Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out it's real name.**

 **SIMMONS: Here, you'd better put these on. The last guy that touched it burst into flames.**

 **DOCTOR: I won't touch it then.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me.**

 _ **The Doctor steps through the heavy door.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: Don't open that door until we get a result.**

The companions glared at the screen.

"And what were they going to do if nothing happened?" Donna asked. "Let him wither and die?"

"Don't worry, Donna," Ten reassured her, "they'd be the ones to wither and die long before me. And besides, I've got my sonic screwdriver."

Donna huffed, still mad at Van Statten.

 _ **Van Statten and Goddard go to a desk with monitors on it.**_

 **INT. CAGE**

 _ **It is dark inside. The door clangs shut and locks.**_

 **DOCTOR: Look, I'm sorry about this. Mister Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor.**

Everyone held their breath, wondering how the Dalek would respond.

 _ **White lights blink next to a blue glow.**_

 **METALTRON: Doc Tor?**

 **DOCTOR: Impossible.**

Nine nodded, agreeing with his onscreen self. The Daleks were supposed to have died in the Time War. All of them.

 **METALTRON: The Doctor?**

 _ **The lights come up to reveal a bad tempered pepperpot being held in chains.**_

 **DALEK: Exterminate! Exterminate!**

Some of the companions flinched at the familiar term.

 _ **The Doctor hammers on the door in terror.**_

 **DOCTOR: Let me out!**

The companions watched, worried from not usually seeing the Doctor this scared.

Nine stared at the screen. He hated being helpless, and having his own fate be held in someone else's hands. Especially someone as self-centered as Van Statten.

 **DALEK: Exterminate!**

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **GODDARD: Sir, it's going to kill him.**

 **VAN STATTEN: It's talking!**

The companions scowled. The Doctor was at risk of dying and all he cared about was the state of his "pet."

 **INT. CAGE**

 **DALEK: You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!**

 _ **Its gun arm twitches but nothing happens.**_

Everyone sighed in relief.

 **DOCTOR: It's not working.**

 _ **The Doctor laughs as the Dalek looks at its impotent weapon.**_

 **DOCTOR: Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?**

A lot of companions frowned, not liking how the Doctor was taunting.

 **DALEK: Keep back!**

 _ **The Doctor stands inches away, staring into its eyepiece.**_

 **DOCTOR: What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing.**

"Doctor!" Amy yelled at him, having had enough. "Don't talk like that to your helpless enemies."

The Doctors bowed their heads in shame.

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **DOCTOR [on monitor]: What the hell are you here for?**

 **DALEK [on monitor]: I am waiting for orders.**

 **INT. CAGE**

 **DOCTOR: What does that mean?**

 **DALEK: I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders.**

 **DOCTOR: Well you're never going to get any. Not ever.**

 **DALEK: I demand orders!**

 **DOCTOR: They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second.**

Those who knew about how Gallifrey and the Time Lords burnt knew that the emotion coming from the Doctor's voice was probably for his home, too.

 **DALEK: You lie!**

 **DOCTOR: I watched it happen. I made it happen.**

Most of everyone, even the Doctors, flinched at this.

 **DALEK: You destroyed us?**

 **DOCTOR: I had no choice.**

The companions let themselves relax a little, feeling that the Doctor was coming back to his senses.

 **DALEK: And what of the Time Lords?**

 **DOCTOR: Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost.**

 **DALEK: And the coward survived.**

The companions' faces grew stern and angry. The Doctor was anything but a coward.

 **DOCTOR: Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left.**

 **DALEK: I am alone in the universe.**

 **DOCTOR: Yep.**

 **DALEK: So are you.**

The companions grabbed their respective Doctors' hands, reminding them the Dalek's statement was false.

 **DALEK: We are the same.**

The companions scoffed.

"As if." Sarah Jane punctuated both words.

 **DOCTOR: We're not the same! I'm not- No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate.**

 _ **The Doctor pulls a lever on a nearby console and the Dalek is lit up with electricity.**_

The companions gasped, eyes wide and mouths parted. They didn't like seeing the Doctor so full of hate but they couldn't take their eyes off the screen.

 **DALEK: Have pity!**

 **DOCTOR: Why should I? You never did.**

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **VAN STATTEN: Get him out.**

"Oh, so _now_ he cares!" Jack said, exasperated.

 **INT. CAGE**

 **DALEK: Help me!**

 _ **Guards grab the Doctor as he goes to ramp up the voltage again.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: I saved your life. Now talk to me. Goddamn it, talk to me!**

 _ **Simmons turns off the electricity.**_

 **DOCTOR: You've got to destroy it!**

 _ **The Doctor is dragged out.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: The last in the universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek. I am Henry Van Statten, now recognise me! Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes.**

Everyone felt sick. Even though it was a Dalek that Van Statten was torturing, the fact that he would do such a thing to any creature made them blindingly angry.

 **INT. ADAM'S WORKSHOP**

 **ADAM: Sorry about the mess. Mister Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods. What do you think that is?**

 _ **Adam gives Rose an inch thick piece of metal.**_

 **ROSE: Er, a lump of metal?**

 **ADAM: Yeah. Yeah, but I think, well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist.**

 **ROSE: That's amazing.**

Jack laughed. "Seriously? You're going to play the fool for this guy?"

Rose's cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

 **ADAM: I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life.**

 **ROSE: I'm gobsmacked, yeah. And you do what, sit here and catalogue it?**

 **ADAM: Best job in the world.**

 **ROSE: Imagine if you could get out there. Travel amongst the stars and see it for real.**

Nine looked pointedly at Rose. "We're not bringing him with us."

She just sighed, shaking her head.

 **ADAM: Yeah, I'd give anything. I don't think it's ever going to happen. Not in our lifetimes.**

 **ROSE: Oh, you never know. What about all those people who say they've been inside of spaceships and things and talked to aliens?**

 **ADAM: I think they're nutters.**

 **ROSE: Yeah, me too.**

"You think we're all nutters?" Amy asked Rose teasingly.

"Yeah," Rose joked, "we're off our rockers."

 **ROSE: So, how'd you end up here?**

 **ADAM: Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit.**

 **ROSE: Oh, right. You're a genius.**

 **ADAM: Sorry, but yeah. I can't help it. I was born clever. When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defence System. Nearly caused World War Three.**

"Not very humble, is he?" Donna said.

 **ROSE: What, and that's funny, is it?**

 **ADAM: Well, you should've been there just to see them running about. Fantastic!**

 **ROSE: You sound like the Doctor.**

All the Doctors scoffed.

 **ADAM: Are you and him?**

 **ROSE: No, we're just friends.**

 **ADAM: Good.**

 **ROSE: Why is it good?**

 **ADAM: It just is.**

"Smoochie smoochie," Jack taunted, "someone's in loooove."

Rose hit him with a pillow. "Stop exaggerating."

 **ROSE: So, wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mister Van Statten's got a living creature down there.**

 **ADAM: Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch through on the comm. system.**

 **ROSE: Let's have a look, then.**

 **ADAM: It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird. It's kind of useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot.**

"Deadly pepper pot." Clara said.

"Hateful pepper pot." Rory added.

 _ **They watch the Dalek screaming as Simmons takes a big drill to its casing.**_

 **ROSE: It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?**

 **ADAM: I don't know.**

 **ROSE: Take me down there now.**

 **INT. LIFT**

 **DOCTOR: The metal's just battle armour. The real Dalek creature's inside.**

 **VAN STATTEN: What does it look like?**

"A skinned octopus." Mickey said.

 **DOCTOR: A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Genetically engineered. By whom?**

Those who knew of him had the name "Davros" flicker through their heads for a second, carving a frown deeply into their faces and dampening their mood.

 **DOCTOR: By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him.**

"Did you just compare Henry Van Statten to Davros?" Clara asked.

 **GODDARD: It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?**

 **DOCTOR: Because I'm here. How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?**

 **GODDARD: The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must have gone insane.**

 **DOCTOR: It must have fallen through time. The only survivor.**

 **GODDARD: You talked about a war?**

 **DOCTOR: The Time War. The final battle between my people and the Dalek race.**

 **VAN STATTEN: But you survived, too.**

 **DOCTOR: Not by choice.**

 **VAN STATTEN: This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth. Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence.**

Some of the companions nearly growled at the way Van Statten looked at the Doctor as though he were some sort of prize.

 **INT. DOCTOR'S CAGE**

 _ **The Doctor is stripped and chained spread-eagled.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: Now, smile!**

 _ **A painful laser scan runs down the Doctor's body.**_

The companions' anger turned into boiling hatred for Van Statten. Some of them had to restrain themselves from throwing something at the TV screen.

 **VAN STATTEN: Two hearts! Binary vascular system. Oh, I am so going to patent this.**

 **DOCTOR: So that's your secret. You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it.**

 **VAN STATTEN: This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?**

Everyone couldn't help but be amazed at how greedy and selfish one person could be.

 **DOCTOR: Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you.**

 **VAN STATTEN: In that case, I will be true to myself and continue.**

 **DOCTOR: Listen to me! That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!**

 **VAN STATTEN: Nothing can escape the Cage.**

 _ **He blasts the Doctor with the laser again.**_

 **DOCTOR: But it's woken up. It knows I'm here. It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet!**

 _ **Van Statten runs the laser scan again, just to hear the Doctor scream.**_

"Can I shoot him?" River quietly asked Rory.

"Could you for once keep your gun in check, River?" He replied, exasperated.

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **BYWATER: Hold it right there.**

 **ADAM: Level three access. Special clearance from Mister Van Statten.**

 **INT. CAGE**

 **ADAM: Don't get too close.**

 _ **The door closes behind Rose and Adam.**_

 **ROSE: Hello. Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler. I've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?**

Everyone smiled softly at Rose's compassion. One of the things they all loved about her was how she always wanted to help anyone and everyone.

 **DALEK: Yes.**

Clara had to hold in a laugh, remembering the time Eleven had said that he'd always wanted to meet someone called "yes."

 **ROSE: What?**

 **DALEK: I am in pain. They torture me, but still they fear me. Do you fear me?**

 **ROSE: No.**

"Then you're an idiot." Twelve said.

Rose gave him a look that clearly said "what was that for?"

"Doctor," Clara ridiculed him, "do we have to get out the cards again?"

Twelve's face made it clear that he did not want to do so. He quickly mumbled an apology to Rose.

 **DALEK: I am dying.**

 **ROSE: No, we can help.**

"The day I help a Dalek is the day I die." Nine told the room.

Clara bit her lip, trying to hold back a response, thinking of the Dalek she and Twelve had helped.

 **DALEK: I welcome death. But I am glad that before I die I have met a human who was not afraid.**

Pretty much everyone was confused at this. A Dalek was glad that someone wasn't afraid of it? Wasn't that one of the main goals of the Daleks - to strike fear into everyone else?

Clara began to wonder if this Dalek was suffering from radiation poisoning.

 **ROSE: Isn't there anything I can do?**

 **DALEK: My race is dead, and I shall die alone.**

The companions almost felt bad for the Dalek, realizing that it must have been feeling the way the Doctor felt.

 _ **Rose reaches for the Dalek's head.**_

 **ADAM: Rose, no!**

Almost everyone in the room had the same reaction.

 _ **A brief touch leaves a golden handprint which quickly fades. The Dalek becomes more animated.**_

The Doctors and River began to wonder if that was the Dalek's plan all along or if it was just a helpful outcome for it.

 **DALEK: Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!**

"Wait-" Donna said "-it just burned off some of Rose's DNA and now it's using that to repair itself? But then, that Dalek isn't 100% Dalek then, is it?"

Ten shook his head and smiled at how quickly Donna was catching on.

 _ **The Dalek breaks its chains. Simmons enters.**_

 **SIMMONS: What the hell have you done?**

 _ **He goes to the Dalek, carrying his drill. The Dalek raises its sink plunger.**_

 **SIMMONS: What are you going to do? Sucker me to death?**

"Oh, don't taunt it." Twelve said to the screen.

Clara nudged him. "Hypocrite" was all she said.

 _ **The sucker covers his nose and mouth and the Dalek creates a vacuum inside it.**_

The companions stared, open-mouthed, as the Dalek killed Simmons.

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **ROSE: It's killing him! Do something!**

 **BYWATER: Condition red! Condition red!**

 **INT. DOCTOR'S CAGE**

 **GUARD [OC]: I repeat, this is not a drill!**

 **DOCTOR: Release me if you want to live.**

"Act dramatic if you want people to do what you want." Jack noted.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 _ **The scene in the Cage is on a large wall TV.**_

 **DOCTOR: You've got to keep it in that cell.**

 **ROSE [on screen]: Doctor, it's all my fault.**

 **GUARD [on screen]: I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations.**

 **DOCTOR: A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat.**

The companions stiffened. Just how many other skills has a Dalek got that they didn't know about?

 **EXT. CAGE**

 _ **And that is precisely what the Dalek uses its sucker to do.**_

 **BYWATER: Open fire!**

"That's not going to do much. What they really need is a brooch." Clara said, unable to think of what Missy had called hers.

Everyone looked at Clara oddly. How exactly could a brooch do more damage than guns?

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed.**

Martha scoffed. "He still cares more about his 'pet' than his own workers."

 **DOCTOR: Rose, get out of there!**

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **BYWATER: De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?**

 _ **The woman guard obeys.**_

 **DE MAGGIO: You, with me.**

 **EXT. CAGE**

 _ **The Dalek glides up to the wall monitor and smashes it, absorbing the electricity. It's battered armour starts to mend, turning from brown to golden.**_

 **BYWATER: Abandoning the Cage, sir.**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **GODDARD: We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah.**

 **DOCTOR: It's downloading.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Downloading what?**

 **GODDARD: Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down.**

 **DOCTOR: It's not just energy. That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything.**

The companions looked on in terror, knowing that they were watching possibly one of the most powerful Daleks in the universe.

 **EXT. CAGE**

 **DALEK: The Daleks survive in me!**

 _ **The Dalek uses its weapon on its surroundings.**_

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **GODDARD: The cameras in the vault have gone down.**

 **DOCTOR: We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!**

The companions sighed, sure that Van Statten wouldn't listen at all.

 **GODDARD: All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately.**

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 **DE MAGGIO: Civilians! Let them through!**

 _ **Rose and Adam, and de Maggio, run through the incoming phalanx of guards.**_

 **BYWATER: Cover the north wall. Red division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter. Blue division argh!**

 _ **The guard dies the traditional extermination death, by turning black and white and having his skeleton exposed. The guards open fire, but the Dalek just absorbs the bullets.**_

"The force field…" Martha muttered. "They're not even hitting it."

 _ **It kills another man. More guards come up behind it, so it swivels its eyepiece around then its middle section turns to open fire on them. Back and forward it alternates, killing someone each time.**_

Everyone, especially the companions, watched, horrified. Knowing about the Dalek's power was bad enough, but seeing it in action was a whole other terrifying concept.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: Tell them to stop shooting at it.**

 **GODDARD: But it's killing them!**

 **VAN STATTEN: They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique. I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?**

Everyone felt sick at hearing Van Statten describe his fellow human beings as "dispensable."

 _ **The gunfire stops, but only because there is no one left to shoot.**_

"It just killed two divisions of guards while barely trying." Martha said slowly.

The Doctors nodded.

"Never underestimate a Dalek." Eleven said darkly.

 _ **Goddard calls up a schematic of the base.**_

 **GODDARD: That's us, right below the surface. That's the cage, and that's the Dalek.**

 **DOCTOR: This museum of yours. Have you got any alien weapons?**

 **GODDARD: Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them.**

 **VAN STATTEN: We've got to keep that thing alive.**

"I think keeping the people alive is actually a more important task." Rory said with crossed arms, getting worked up against Van Statten.

 **VAN STATTEN: We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there.**

 **DOCTOR: Leaving everyone trapped with it. Rose is down there. I won't let that happen. Have you got that? It's got to go through this area. What's that?**

 **GODDARD: Weapons testing.**

 **DOCTOR: Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it.**

Martha and Donna looked at the on-screen Doctor with knitted eyebrows. Their own Doctor was so against anyone using guns at all, but this one seemed to be perfectly fine with it.

 **INT. STAIRCASE**

 **ROSE: Stairs! That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!**

River sighed. "If only."

 **DE MAGGIO: It's coming! Get up!**

 _ **They run a flight and look down on the Dalek.**_

 **ADAM: Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs.**

 **DE MAGGIO: Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mister van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?**

"Daleks have never been known for surrendering." Jack said bitterly.

"Negotiating isn't really their thing either." Rose added.

 **DALEK: Elevate.**

 _ **The Dalek glides up the stairs.**_

 **ROSE: Oh my God.**

 **DE MAGGIO: Adam, get her out of here.**

 **ROSE: Come with us. You can't stop it.**

 **DE MAGGIO: Someone's got to try. Now get out! Don't look back. Just run.**

Everyone was astonished. De Maggio knew that at least a dozen guards had died at the hand of that Dalek, yet she was still willing to give her life to try and stop it.

Eleven shook his head as his previous words came to mind: _they're always brave._

 _ **Despite the closing range, De Maggio doesn't hit the eyepiece. She suffers the usual fate.**_

Rose couldn't help but look away from the screen as De Maggio screamed.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something.**

 **DOCTOR: What's the nearest town?**

 **VAN STATTEN: Salt Lake City.**

 **DOCTOR: Population?**

 **VAN STATTEN: One million.**

 **DOCTOR: All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs.**

 **VAN STATTEN: But why would it do that?**

 **DOCTOR: Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!**

Rose took in a breath to speak, but before she could say anything about the Dalek getting loose actually being her fault, Nine shook his head.

"Nu-uh." He said. "You may have helped to restore it to it's previous state, but none of that would have been able to happen if Van Statten hadn't refused to kill it. I had warned him, but I hadn't warned you. This was not your fault, Rose."

 **DOCTOR: The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible.**

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece.**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: That's the weak spot.**

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **COMMANDER: Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Positions!**

Everyone shook their heads with their tongues in their cheeks. Why didn't anyone listen?

 _ **His men take cover behind various corners, packing cases, boxes and up on a catwalk with him. Rose and Adam run into view.**_

 **COMMANDER: Hold your fire! You two, get the hell out of there!**

"Everyone's so rude down there." Ten said.

 _ **Rose and Adam run past a guard at the entrance. The Dalek enters, turns and zooms in on Rose's face. They get out of the bay.**_

"Is it targeting Rose?" Amy asked, feeling concern for her new friend.

 **EXT. LOADING BAY**

 **ROSE: It was looking at me.**

 **ADAM: Yeah, it wants to slaughter us.**

 **ROSE: I know, but it was looking right at me.**

 **ADAM: So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around.**

 **ROSE: I don't know. It's like there's something inside, looking at me, like, like it knows me.**

A lot of companions scrunched up their faces at this unsettling thought.

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **COMMANDER: On my mark. Open fire!**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **GODDARD: We've got vision.**

 **DOCTOR: It wants us to see.**

"I've never known Daleks to be the bragging type…" River said carefully.

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 _ **The hail of bullets is having no effect. Then the Dalek starts to rise straight up into the air. It zaps the fire alarm and the sprinklers are set off. Once the concrete floor is covered with a layer of water, it fires downwards and electrocutes every wet person on the ground.**_

 **COMMANDER: Fall back! Fall back!**

 _ **The Dalek exterminates kills him and the rest of his men with another strategic shot, then continues to hang there, water pouring down its shell, crying in the rain.**_

"Everyone in two shots…" Clara said quietly, nearly in disbelief.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place.**

"Too late for that." Jack muttered.

 **GODDARD: Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out.**

 **DOCTOR: You said we could seal the vault.**

The companions furrowed their eyebrows. The Doctor was against that because Rose was down there. Was he willing to abandon her now?

 _No._ They told themselves. _The Doctor wouldn't do that._

 **VAN STATTEN: It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war. Steel bulkheads**

 **GODDARD: There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive.**

 **DOCTOR: We've got emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors.**

 **GODDARD: We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Good thing you've got me, then.**

 **DOCTOR: You want to help?**

 **VAN STATTEN: I don't want to die, Doctor. Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me.**

"Well," River said, "he's honest."

 **GODDARD: Sir.**

 _ **The Dalek is back on the ground.**_

 **DALEK [on screen]: I shall speak only to the Doctor.**

 **DOCTOR: You're going to get rusty.**

Clara barely managed a small smile, thinking of the Dalek her Doctor had nicknamed "Rusty."

 **DALEK [on screen]: I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me.**

 **DOCTOR: What's your next trick?**

 **DALEK [on screen]: I have been searching for the Daleks.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah, I saw. downloading the internet. What did you find?**

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **DALEK: I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes.**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: And?**

 **DALEK [on screen]: Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?**

The desperation in the Dalek's voice almost made the companions feel bad for it.

 **DOCTOR: You're just a soldier without commands.**

 **DALEK [on screen]: Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer.**

 **DOCTOR: What for? What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for.**

It didn't take long for the companions to connect the Doctor's tone to the same one he used when he talked about Gallifrey or the Time Lords.

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **DALEK: Then what should I do?**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: All right, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself.**

Almost everyone gasped or gaped at that, never expecting those words to come from the Doctor. Just hearing them out of his mouth made them uneasy, and brought back memories of times they had seen their own Doctors act similar ways.

Even with those memories, however, the companions found the Doctor telling something to kill itself to be unimaginable, something that didn't even fit his own voice. That's not what the Doctor did, the Doctor helped people-he helped to bring them out of whatever dark hole they were currently stuck in and bring them to a better place. The Doctor shouldn't ever-couldn't ever-give up on someone.

Without warning, there was a loud sound of someone being smacked - harshly.

Clara's stern voice could be heard clearly by everyone. "I don't want to hear those words from you ever again. I've seen a lot of shit from you this episode, all of which goes against whatever rules you've set for yourself. You made a promise to me and I'll be damned if you don't keep it. So don't go off and pretend like you can start your own 'reign of terror' because you are no Doctor to me when you act that way."

Twelve was stunned. To go so far as to denounce his title...he must have really upset her. Not one to disappoint, he looked Clara in the eye (still holding his cheek because _damn_ she went all out with that slap) and said, "yes ma'am."

Seemingly satisfied, (albeit still incredibly cross from what the others could tell) Clara sank back into the couch, arms crossed, and waited for the episode to begin playing again.

The other Doctors let go of the breaths they had been holding while hoping Clara's rage wouldn't turn to them. They still glanced, frightened, at their own companions, hoping that they were off the hook for a slap too.

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **DALEK: The Daleks must survive!**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the Universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?**

Clara bit her own tongue.

 **INT. LOADING BAY**

 **DALEK: You would make a good Dalek.**

The Doctors lowered their heads and Twelve thought about what Rusty had said: _you are a good Dalek_.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 _ **The screen goes blank.**_

 **DOCTOR: Seal the Vault.**

 **VAN STATTEN: I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast.**

 **DOCTOR: Are you enjoying this?**

 **GODDARD: Doctor, she's still down there.**

 **INT. STAIRCASE**

 _ **Rose's phone rings.**_

 **ROSE: This isn't the best time.**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Where are you?**

 **ROSE: Level forty nine.**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six.**

 **INT. STAIRCASE**

 **ROSE: Can't you stop them closing?**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DOCTOR: I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you.**

 **INT. STAIRCASE**

 **DOCTOR [OC]: Now for God's sake, run.**

 _ **The Dalek is at level fifty one.**_

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads.**

 **GODDARD: The Dalek's right behind them.**

The companions all struggled with the decision the Doctor had to make. If Rose didn't make it through the bulkhead, she could die, but if the Dalek made it through the bulkhead, at least an entire city of one million people were at stake.

River knew that if it was the Doctor in Rose's place, she'd gladly let one million lives burn to save the person she loved.

Others like Captain Jack, weren't quite so sure about the outcome if it was them calling the shots.

 **INT. LEVEL 46**

 **ROSE: We're nearly there. Give us two seconds.**

Something told everyone that Rose didn't even have two seconds.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads.**

 **DOCTOR: I'm sorry.**

 **INT. LEVEL 46**

 _ **The Doctor hits Enter. A klaxon sounds and the bulkhead starts to lower.**_

 **ADAM: Come on!**

 _ **Adam rolls under the bulkhead with eighteen inches to spare.**_

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **VAN STATTEN: The vault is sealed.**

 **DOCTOR: Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it?**

 **INT. LEVEL 46**

 **ROSE: Sorry, I was a bit slow.**

The companions' hearts dropped. How the hell was Rose going to make it out of this one?

 _ **The Dalek comes round the corner.**_

 **ROSE: See you, then, Doctor. It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault.**

Nine looked on and shook his head. She was about to die and he was the one being reassured? By the one who was marked for death, no less.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **ROSE [OC]: And do you know what?**

 **INT. LEVEL 46**

 **ROSE: I wouldn't have missed it for the world.**

The companions smiled a little, knowing Rose's words rang true for all of them.

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **DALEK [OC]: Exterminate!**

 _ **There is the sound of the Dalek shooting. The Doctor takes off his earpiece.**_

The companions felt thankful that they didn't have to hear Rose scream, but even so, something felt off to them. Most of them looked over as though to make sure that Rose was actually sitting with them. How was Rose there right then if she had gotten shot by the Dalek? Hadn't she known the Tenth Doctor as well?

 **DOCTOR: I killed her.**

 **VAN STATTEN: I'm sorry.**

The companions felt themselves getting angry.

Sarah Jane scoffed. "Now he feels bad."

 **DOCTOR: I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me, and you're sorry?**

"Actually," Rose muttered, "I was there because I wanted to come."

 **DOCTOR: I could've killed that Dalek in it's cell, but you stopped me.**

 **VAN STATTEN: It was the prize of my collection!**

 **DOCTOR: Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater.**

 **VAN STATTEN: Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!**

 **DOCTOR: You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took her down with you. She was nineteen years old.**

 **INT. LEVEL 46**

 **ROSE: Go on then, kill me. Why're you doing this?**

Everyone let out a breath and smiled at seeing Rose unharmed.

 **DALEK: I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose.**

 **ROSE: They're all dead because of you.**

 **DALEK: They are dead because of us.**

Rose winced, then felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her left and found Nine staring at her sternly. His message was clear.

"Right," Rose whispered. "Not my fault."

 **ROSE: And now what? What're you waiting for?**

 **DALEK: I feel your fear.**

River's eyes widened, coming to a realization about what was going on within the Dalek.

 **ROSE: What do you expect?**

 **DALEK: Daleks do not fear. Must not fear.**

 _ **The Dalek shoots at either side of the bulkhead door.**_

 **DALEK: You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated.**

Martha was taken aback at that. To think that a Dalek thought that to have any emotion other than hate was an illness...

 **INT. OFFICE**

 _ **Adam enters.**_

 **DOCTOR: You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind.**

 **ADAM: I'm not the one who sealed the vault!**

"I bet he spent the whole walk there thinking of that one." Jack said.

 **DALEK [on screen]: Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies.**

 **DOCTOR: You're alive!**

 **ROSE [on screen]: Can't get rid of me.**

Rose contemplated her plan to get back to her own universe, and thought about just how true that was.

 **DOCTOR: I thought you were dead.**

Clara couldn't help but be grateful that the Doctor found out Rose was alive before he did anything rash. She didn't know Nine as much as her own Doctor, but she knew that her's was willing to sacrifice himself-and nearly did-when he thought that she was dead. With this Doctor-who seemed to be in a much darker place and was more vengeful-there was no telling what he'd do.

 **DALEK [on screen]: Open the bulkhead!**

 **ROSE [on screen]: Don't do it!**

 **DALEK [on screen]: What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?**

"See?" Jack said. "Even a Dalek can tell."

"Jack, I swear-" Rose began, her cheeks turning red.

She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder, this time from Ten, who seemed to be a little red in the face as well.

 **DOCTOR: I killed her once. I can't do it again.**

 _ **The bulkhead opens. Rose and the Dalek walk through.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: What do we do now, you bleeding heart. What the hell do we do?**

 **ADAM: Kill it when it gets here.**

 **GODDARD: All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault.**

 **ADAM: Only the catalogued ones.**

River raised her eyebrows and Jack couldn't help but smile.

"I might take back all the bad things I've said about this guy." He said.

 **INT. ADAM'S WORKSHOP**

 **DOCTOR: Broken. Broken. Hairdryer.**

 **ADAM: Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day.**

 **DOCTOR: What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that.**

 **ADAM: I could do.**

 **DOCTOR: What're you going to do, throw your A-Levels at 'em? Oh, yes. Lock and load.**

The companions seemed uneasy, never before having seen the Doctor be so excited about a gun.

 **INT. LIFT**

 **ROSE: I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill me.**

River frowned. Begging a Dalek not to kill was like begging the Doctor not to save someone. Even so, this Dalek wasn't completely...Dalek. And seeing as Rose was the one it absorbed DNA from, maybe it would listen to her.

 **DALEK: But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?**

 **INT. OFFICE**

 **ROSE: Don't move. Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself.**

 **DALEK: Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?**

 **VAN STATTEN: I wanted to help you. I just, I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!**

Everyone shook their heads. Van Statten was a coward if that's what he called "help."

 _ **Van Statten is backed up against the wall.**_

 **DALEK: Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!**

 **ROSE: Don't do it! Don't kill him! You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?**

 **DALEK: I want freedom.**

Everyone sat, shocked at the fact that-after what the Doctor had said about Daleks only wanting to kill-the Dalek had wanted something that wasn't destructive.

 _ **The Doctor is running up the stairs with his gun.**_

 **INT. LEVEL 1**

 _ **The Dalek blasts a hole in the roof, and a shaft of sunlight streams down straight onto its eyepiece.**_

 **ROSE: You're out. You made it. I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again.**

 **DALEK: How does it feel?**

 _ **The Dalek opens its middle and dome sections to reveal the one-eyed mutant within. It holds out a tendril.**_

A lot of people scrunched up their faces at the mutated mess.

 **DOCTOR: Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now!**

 **ROSE: No. I won't let you do this.**

"My, my," Jack said. "How the tables have turned."

 **DOCTOR: That thing killed hundreds of people.**

 **ROSE: It's not the one pointing the gun at me.**

 **DOCTOR: I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left.**

 **ROSE: Look at it.**

 **DOCTOR: What's it doing?**

 **ROSE: It's the sunlight, that's all it wants.**

 **DOCTOR: But it can't**

 **ROSE: It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?**

Clara smiled, knowing that ought to get through to him.

 **DOCTOR: I couldn't. I wasn't. Oh, Rose. They're all dead.**

 **DALEK: Why do we survive?**

 **DOCTOR: I don't know.**

 **DALEK: I am the last of the Daleks.**

 **DOCTOR: You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating.**

Everyone looked on curiously at how the Doctor and the Dalek could have a peaceful, non-threatening conversation.

 **DALEK: Into what?**

 **DOCTOR: Something new. I'm sorry.**

Many were confused by this.

 **ROSE: Isn't that better?**

 **DOCTOR: Not for a Dalek.**

"But surely, since the Dalek's changed, it'd be alright now?" Clara questioned.

"The Dalek may have absorbed Rose's DNA, "Twelve explained, "but not enough. Seeing as it's mind didn't change naturally, it's still got the outlook of a regular Dalek."

Clara's shoulders sagged. She had hoped to see another good Dalek.

 **DALEK: I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die.**

 **ROSE: I can't do that.**

 **DALEK: This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!**

Everyone frowned at seeing that the Dalek was still very Dalek-like, despite what Rose had done for it.

 **ROSE: Do it.**

 **DALEK: Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?**

 **ROSE: Yeah.**

 **DALEK: So am I. Exterminate.**

 _ **The Dalek shuts its eye. Rose retreats as it closes up its armour again then rises into the air. The balls on its lower body spread out around it creating a forcefield, then it implodes safely.**_

Some of the companions struggled with the fact that they had kind of wanted the Dalek to live, and Clara struggled with contemplating whether a suicidal Dalek or a traitorous Dalek was better.

 **INT. CORRIDOR**

 _ **Van Statten is under guard, wherever they came from.**_

 **VAN STATTEN: What the hell are you doing?**

 **GODDARD: Two hundred personnel dead, and all because of you, sir. Take him away, wipe his memory, and leave him by the road someplace.**

 **VAN STATTEN: You can't do this to me. I am Henry van Statten!**

 **GODDARD: And by tonight, Henry van Statten will be a homeless, brainless junkie living on the streets of San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento. Someplace beginning with S.**

While everyone was glad that Van Statten was no longer in a position of power, some also couldn't help but feel that they had taken the easy way out.

 **INT. MUSEUM**

 **DOCTOR: A little piece of home. Better than nothing.**

 **ROSE: Is that the end of it, the Time War?**

 **DOCTOR: I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?**

The Doctors except for Twelve looked on, almost emotionless, seeming as though they were tired from their war even being mentioned.

Clara looked at the three Doctors sadly, and could only hope that the pain they were feeling for their home planet right then would be worth it once they found out Gallifrey was saved.

 **ROSE: The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too.**

 **DOCTOR: I'd know. In here. Feels like there's no one.**

Martha and Clara were confused at that, thinking about the Master and Missy respectively.

 **ROSE: Well then, good thing I'm not going anywhere.**

 **DOCTOR: Yeah.**

 **ADAM: We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed.**

 **ROSE: About time.**

 **ADAM: I'll have to go back home.**

 **DOCTOR: Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours.**

 **ROSE: Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars.**

River tutted. "Rose, the Doctor chooses his companions very carefully. There's a reason we're not allowed to bring anyone but ourselves aboard."

"Yeah," Rose grinned, "if only you were there to knock my head straight back then."

River chuckled.

Meanwhile, Clara and Twelve's faces had darkened thinking about what River had said and how it was really Missy that had employed Clara as the Doctor's companion. Perhaps that was a hint from the beginning that their run together would bring catastrophes.

 **DOCTOR: Tell him to go and stand outside, then.**

Everyone laughed at the Doctor's usual humour.

 **ROSE: He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help.**

 **DOCTOR: He left you down there.**

 **ROSE: So did you.**

 **ADAM: What're you talking about? We've got to leave.**

 **DOCTOR: Plus, he's a bit pretty.**

 **ROSE: I hadn't noticed.**

"Playing innocent, huh?" Jack teased.

 **DOCTOR: On your own head.**

 _ **The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS.**_

 **ADAM: What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in.**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose go inside the TARDIS.**_

 **ADAM: Doctor? What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose?**

Everyone couldn't help but find Adam's confusion immensely funny.

 _ **Adam creeps inside the TARDIS, and it dematerializes.**_

"Oh, boy." Sarah Jane said. "Can't wait to see what kind of trouble Adam gets himself into."

"The worst kind." Rose hinted with a grin.

 **NEXT TIME**

 **INT. OBSERVATION DECK**

 **DOCTOR: The fourth great and bountiful human empire. Planet Earth at it's height.**

"Ooh," Amy grinned and rubbed her hands together. "Can't wait to see what us humans have come up with this time."

"Don't get too excited." Rose muttered.

 **INT. FLOOR 139**

 **CHEF: Kronkburger with cheese. Kronkburger with pajatos.**

"That sounds less than appetizing." Clara said.

"It wasn't so bad," Rose said, "but it wasn't so good either."

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **EDITOR: Something's wrong.**

 **INT. FLOOR 139**

 **DOCTOR: My watch must be wrong.**

"What kind of watch do you even have?" Mickey asked. "'Cause apparently, it's able to show what century it is."

Nine sort-of answered him. "It can do much more than that, Rickey."

 **ROSE: That's what comes with showing off. Your history's not as good as you thought it was.**

 **DOCTOR: My history's perfect.**

All the companions rolled their eyes at the Doctor's ego and his lying through his teeth-whether he knows it or not.

 **ROSE: Well, obviously not.**

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **EDITOR: I can taste it.**

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 **CATHICA: And engage safety.**

 _ **Cathica snaps her fingers and her forehead opens.**_

"What the hell?" Clara asked, eyes wide and glued to the screen.

"What...is that?" Amy's eyes narrowed.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **SUKI: Who're you?**

 **EDITOR: I'm the Editor.**

"Something tells me he's got an ego as big as the Doctor." Mickey teased.

"Perhaps it's the fact that he won't give us a name." Martha joined in.

The Doctors rolled their eyes.

 **SUKI: What's happening?**

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 **CATHICA: And spike.**

 _ **A beam of light shines into Cathica's forehead.**_

"Seems like she's absorbing...something." River said.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 _ **Suki finds a skeleton with a portal in it, and screams.**_

"Um…" Sarah Jane felt uncomfortable, to say the least, "why is the skeleton's forehead still open? People can close that...thing in their foreheads, right?"

Rose nodded. "They must have died while spiking." She said quietly.

With a tense air filling the room, the next episode began.


	9. The Long Game

**It did not go according to plan. I HAVE GUILT BEYOND MEASURE. I have disappeared into the depths of the real world for far too long, and for that I am a thousand times sorry. I never, ever intended to be gone this long. To everyone who has read and everyone who has reviewed: thank you so much for sticking with me. You people are the reason this story wasn't abandoned. I also have a message for those suggesting out-of-order episodes: It has come to my attention that Season 8 episodes are quite popular demand. I just want people who are requesting episodes to know that if a season gets a lot of it's episodes requested, I'm most likely not going to be able to put them all in as out-of-order episodes. If I did, then by the time we got around to watching the watching the full season, there wouldn't be much substance or flavoring in the season's story. Also, for the out-of-order episodes, I am strictly doing only the episodes which are not the first episodes of a season or part of a two(or greater)-parter. I will also not use episodes that have a fairly significant point in them where context from previous episodes is required to understand what the hell is going on. (i.e. If I used** _ **Empress of Mars**_ **, the Doctor and his companions would be extremely confused when it is revealed who is in the vault because they don't know what the vault is, why that person would be in the vault, and depending on what season they were currently watching, most of them would not even know who the person in the vault is and their significance. There is also the matter of how if I used that episode, when the characters do watch Season 10, the whole question of who is in the vault would lose all of its suspense and interest) I know that some of you may be upset by these restrictions, but please understand that I want nothing more than for this story to please you, and the reason I am putting these restrictions in place is for that sake; so that the story can be as grand and suspenseful as I can make it. The last thing I want to mention on here is that originally, I was going to be introducing Bill to the group in this chapter. However, I decided that it would be best to write her in after the last episode of Season 10 has aired, so that I know the best point in her timeline to drop her in. I want to get her in here as soon as possible though, so she can watch as many episodes as possible. So while she may not appear in this chapter, she will be brought in within three. I think. Don't quote me on that.**

 **INT. OBSERVATION DECK**

 _ **A traffic report is on a public viewscreen.**_

 **WOMAN [OC]: Solar flare activity has increased across space lanes five, five, six and all commercial flights are advised to avoid…**

"Future, then." Rory noted.

 _ **The TARDIS materialises, and the Doctor and Rose step out.**_

 **DOCTOR: So, it's two hundred thousand, and it's a spaceship. No, wait a minute, space station, and er, go and try that gate over there. Off you go.**

 **ROSE: Two hundred thousand?**

 **DOCTOR: Two hundred thousand.**

 **ROSE: Right.**

 _ **Rose opens the TARDIS door.**_

 **ROSE: Adam? Out you come.**

 _ **Adam comes out, and his jaw drops.**_

 **ADAM: Oh, my God.**

Everyone smirked. Seeing various people's reactions to the future or history or even time travel in general would never get old.

 **ROSE: Don't worry, you'll get used to it.**

 **ADAM: Where are we?**

 **ROSE: Good question. Let's see. So, er, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand.**

Sarah Jane raised her eyebrows at Rose and grinned. "Showing off, huh? Ms. 'I didn't notice he was pretty.'"

Rose groaned and put her head in her hands.

Sarah Jane turned to Nine. "And you're just letting her do this?"

"Oi! I can step back and let someone else take the reins sometimes! I'm perfectly capable of being humble." Nine retorted.

"Yeah," Rose teased, "if you know you're going to have the opportunity to poke fun at someone."

 **ROSE: If you listen-**

 **ADAM: Yeah.**

 **ROSE: Engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here. They could turn the heating down. Tell you what - let's try that gate. Come on!**

"This is great." Jack said with a wide grin. "Rose, it's almost like you're impersonating him."

 _ **Rose leads the men through the metal gate to a massive viewing window.**_

 **ROSE: Here we go! And this is...I'll let the Doctor describe it.**

"Space got the best of you?" Clara teased Rose.

Rose briefly rolled her eyes at Clara but gave a small smile nonetheless. "Oh, and I suppose you know what Earth was like in two-hundred thousand."

"Yeah, actually," Clara admitted, "I visited it quite often when I was little over one hundred. _Quite_ a sight to behold; seeing your own planet _that_ obsessed with Gatorade."

Pretty much everyone aside from Clara and Twelve looked like they were having trouble processing something.

It was Amy who spoke next. "Wait...what did you say?!"

"I know," Clara scoffed. "They had created over two hundred different flavors last time I went and were working on papaya."

She was shaking her head absentmindedly but stopped when Amy tried to correct her.

"No, that's not what I-" Amy began before she was interrupted by Ten.

"'Little over one hundred?'"

"Did you get turned into plastic?" Rory asked suddenly, making everyone turn to look at him. He squared his shoulders, getting defensive. "It's a valid question!"

Jack looked at him like he was crazy. "How is that a-"

"Okay!" Ten intercepted loudly. "Clara, is there something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"You ask the teacher." Twelve snorted.

Clara turned to tell Twelve to "shut up" in her signature "we've got more important things to do than listen to your complaining" bossy tone before answering everyone else.

"I'm in a certain condition where, I guess you could say, I'm basically…" Clara hesitated, "...dead."

It took a few seconds for this to sink in.

It was Eleven that broke the silence. "What exactly do you mean… 'dead?'"

"Exactly that." Clara replied. "Not alive. Literally, no heartbeat. I don't age."

Clara held out her wrist towards Eleven. He eyed it with skepticism before taking it gingerly, as though afraid it would crumble, and felt for a pulse. He tried readjusting his hand multiple times before dropping Clara's wrist.

"Right," he stated, "that is slightly uncomfortable."

"What is? The fact that she's technically a zombie or the fact that you don't have an explanation?" River asked, taking a jab at his ego.

"Do you?" Eleven inquired, half trying to protect his ego and half genuinely curious as to how Clara's situation could be possible.

River pressed her lips into a thin line and sighed through her nose. "I'll have to admit I'm stumped on this one."

Twelve had been feeling his hearts sinking in his chest ever since he heard the words "when I was little over one hundred" escape Clara's mouth. Just how long had she been traveling without him? How much had she changed?

He almost hoped that she had changed, because when he last saw her, Clara was just like him; and that's what had gotten her killed. He turned her into him and she paid the price. Maybe the time away from him had done her good. He could only hope so, as the alternative kept weighing him down. The alternative being that her travels had only caused to increase their likeness.

 **DOCTOR: The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire. And there it is, planet Earth at it's height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle.**

"Wow...that's amazing." Martha said, impressed.

 _Yeah, it would have been._ Rose thought to herself.

 _ **Adam faints.**_

Everyone begins to laugh. They had seen many reactions to the wonders of time and space, but fainting? That was a new one.

 **DOCTOR: He's your boyfriend.**

 **ROSE: Not anymore.**

"That was over quickly." Donna said in between laughs.

"Apparently," Nine said with a smirk, "unless they can handle year two-hundred thousand Earth, no one's fit to date Rose."

"No, I only take the best." Rose joked.

"Don't let that go to your head." Martha said to Mickey, who laughed.

 **OPENING CREDITS (without names)**

" **THE LONG GAME"**

 **INT. FLOOR 139**

 _ **The space station has a central hub with three wheels turning.**_

 **DOCTOR[OC]: Come on, Adam. Open your mind.**

"Oh, you had to tell him that, didn't you?" Rose grumbled.

"What?" Nine asked, not understanding why Rose seemed annoyed. "What's wrong with someone opening their mind?"

"You're about to see."

 _ **The Doctor, Rose and Adam enter a large room.**_

 **DOCTOR: You're going to like this. Fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners.**

 **MAN: Out of the way!**

 _ **Suddenly there are a lot of people bustling around, opening up food vending stations and serving customers at their counters.**_

"Apparently not." Donna scoffed.

 **CHEF: Thank you very much indeed. Somebody there? That's great. What do you want, love? All right, keep moving. I'll be with you lot in a minute. Here you are. One at a time. What now, what was it? Kronkburger with cheese, kronkburger with pajatos. Do you want a drink? Oi, you, mate. Stop pushing. Get back. I said, back.**

"Manners? Either you messed up again or you grew up in a barn." Jack said to the Doctor.

Over on the rightmost couch without warning, to everyone's astonishment, Clara began choking.

It was evident right away there wasn't a complete airway blockage seeing as she could still cough and wheeze (very much so), only a partial one. All anyone could think of as to what she was choking on was that she was in the process of swallowing and Jack had spoken up at the exact wrong moment. Why she would react so strongly to what he said however, nobody knew. Everyone couldn't help but be stunned.

Everyone except Twelve.

He had reacted immediately, grabbing hold of her left arm and right shoulder, pulling her back slightly into a more breathing-friendly position and steadying the shaking. Clara's coughs died down soon enough, allowing her to breathe again. As soon as her airway was unclogged, she took a deep breath and pointed in the general direction of Jack while still gazing down at the floor.

"Never say that again." Clara's voice was slightly hoarse, but other than that she appeared fine.

"You know," Twelve mumbled to her, "if you had stopped breathing by now that wouldn't have happened."

Clara rolled her eyes. "Old habits die hard."

While everyone was thankful Clara was no longer struggling to breathe, they couldn't quite get the image out of their minds. There was something startling about seeing the poised, resolute woman in a state of such helplessness and fragility. It made them all wonder how it would appear if the others were shown in that state. If _they_ were shown in that state. They had a dreadful feeling they might be witnessing some of it in the near future. After all, it was highly doubted that everyone's travels with the Doctor was all sunshine and rainbows.

 **ROSE: Fine cuisine?**

 **DOCTOR: My watch must be wrong. No, it's fine. It's weird.**

 **ROSE: That's what comes of showing off. Your history's not as good as you thought it was.**

 **DOCTOR: My history's perfect.**

 **ROSE: Well, obviously not.**

"Careful, Rosie." Jack grinned. "You're walking on thin ice, there."

The Doctor's scowled at him.

 **ADAM: They're all human. What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?**

"Hmm, that's a good observation." River said.

 **DOCTOR: Good question. Actually, that is a good question.**

A few people gave short huffs of laughter at how the Doctor seemed surprised.

 **DOCTOR: Adam, me old mate, you must be starving.**

 **ADAM: No, I'm just a bit time sick.**

"Doesn't he mean space sick?" Clara joked, leaning towards Twelve.

Some people looked at her confused, not quite sure what she meant, but then Twelve responded to her.

Twelve groaned, but couldn't hide the grin forming on his face. "Clara, you give me a headache when you do this."

"A space headache?"

"Stop putting space in front of everything! Nobody does that!"

"Nagata from the _space_ station with her space pirates begs to differ."

"You're not supposed to do this." Twelve covered his face with his hand.

"I wonder how _Space Lord_ would-...no, not that one."

"The people that travel with me are not supposed to poke fun at the universe."

Clara laughed. "That's all you ever do!"

"I carry myself with a certain level of _dignity_. That means not putting the word "space" in front of everything."

"Nah, you prefer technobabble. Makes everyone else seem inferior and like you're the only one that knows what's going on."

Twelve removed his hand from his face to look down at Clara. "I _am_ the only one that knows what's going on."

Clara tried to hold back a smirk as she looked at him, amused at his arrogance. "Oh, so that's how it is? Yeah?"

"Yeah. Nice to see you are finally paying attention."

Clara turned away then, afraid that if she let the Doctor see her face any longer, he'd see her obviously trying to prevent herself from laughing. Clara quickly fell into a fit of silent laughter, and some of the other companions who had been growing amused with the Doctor and Clara's exchange followed suit. It only lasted a short while, the companions calming themselves with deep breaths after seconds.

The giggles had helped to brighten the mood, however, and most of the room's inhabitants continued to smile when the episode started back up.

 **DOCTOR: No, you just need a bit of grub. Oi, mate - how much is a kronkburger?**

 **CHEF: Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now join the queue.**

 **DOCTOR: Money. We need money. Let's use a cashpoint.**

 **TANNOY: Attention all staff. All coverage of the Glasgow water riots being transferred five through nine.**

 _ **The Doctor goes to a Credit Five cashpoint and does something clever with his sonic screwdriver. It produces a plastic card which the Doctor hands to Adam.**_

Multiple companions sent out complaints towards their respective Doctors of all the times he said he "had no money" when all he needed to do was rob a cashpoint.

 **DOCTOR: There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets.**

"You think we're all children." Mickey accused.

Nine was about to respond but Clara beat him to it.

"You know Mick," she said, "when you hit a certain century, everyone begins to sound like whiny toddlers at a playground."

 **ADAM: How does it work?**

 **DOCTOR: Go and find out. Stop nagging me. The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?**

"That's my favorite part." River said.

 **DOCTOR: Stop asking questions, go and do it. Off you go, then. Your first date.**

 **ROSE: You're going to get a smack, you are.**

 _ **Rose and Adam leave the Doctor, who approaches a pair of smartly dressed young women.**_

 **DOCTOR: Er, this is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?**

 **CATHICA: Floor One-Three-Nine. Could they write it any bigger?**

 **DOCTOR: Floor One-Three-Nine of what?**

 **CATHICA: Must've been a hell of a party.**

 **SUKI: You're on Satellite Five.**

 **DOCTOR: What's Satellite Five?**

 **CATHICA: Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?**

 **DOCTOR: Look at me. I'm stupid.**

"He finally admits it!" Jack cheered.

The Doctors just sighed and shook their heads.

 **SUKI: Hold on, wait a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?**

"Well, that's mighty convenient." Sarah Jane said.

 **DOCTOR: You've got me. Well done. You're too clever for me.**

 _ **The Doctor holds up his psychic paper ID card.**_

 **SUKI: We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion.**

 **CATHICA: Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor Five Hundred I'll do anything.**

"Ooh," Amy leaned forward a bit, "what's so special about Floor Five Hundred?"

 **DOCTOR: Why, what happens on Floor Five Hundred?**

 **CATHICA: The walls are made of gold.**

"Just your standard pleonexia coupled with ignorance." Twelve said then, in reply to Amy's question.

 **CATHICA: And you should know, Mister Management. So, this is what we do.**

 _ **She goes over to a wall monitor.**_

 **CATHICA: Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant.**

"Again?" Jack asked, seemingly annoyed as well as disappointed.

 **DOCTOR: I get it. You broadcast the news.**

 **CATHICA: We are the news. We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels**

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **CATHICA [on monitor]: All coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere.**

"...Someone's watching…" Rory stated in a sing-song.

 _ **A pale-skinned man with white hair and goatee watches from a very cold location. There is frost on the walls.**_

"That place doesn't look very hospitable." Martha noted.

 **EDITOR: Something is wrong. Something fictional.**

Clara gave a short laugh. "Barely ten minutes in and you're already causing trouble."

"I don't even know what I did." Nine said, eyebrows knit together in confusion.

 _ **He moves beside a man operating the console, who remains unmoving, expressionless, and covered with frost.**_

"Oh my God," Donna stared at the frosted-over man, "he almost looks like he's dead."

 _I wouldn't call that "almost."_ Rose thought.

 **EDITOR: Those people.**

 **CATHICA [on monitor]: Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going though us.**

 _ **The Editor instructs the console operator.**_

 **EDITOR: Security check. Go deep.**

 **INT. FLOOR 139**

 **TANNOY: All staff are reminded that the canteen area now operates a self cleaning table system. Thank you!**

 **ROSE: Try this. It's called Zaphic. It's nice, it's like a, er, Slush Puppy.**

 **ADAM: What flavour?**

 _ **Rose takes a suck at the straw.**_

 **ROSE: Sort of beef?**

Clara shook her head. Her expression made it look like she had lost all faith in humankind. "That's worse than papaya Gatorade."

"It really wasn't that bad..." Rose tried saying, but she realized she was lying to herself. "...Okay, yeah it was."

 **ADAM: Oh, my God. It's like everything's gone, home, family, everything.**

"Well, that's only one corner of even just the space station." Eleven reasoned. "He can't expect to find everything in one corner. He'll most likely just find dust and the odd pajato."

 _ **Rose takes out her mobile phone.**_

 **ROSE: This helps. The Doctor gave it a bit of a top-up. Who's back home, your mum and dad?**

 **ADAM: Yeah.**

 **ROSE: Phone them up.**

 **ADAM: But that's one hundred and ninety eight thousand years ago.**

 **ROSE: Honestly, try it. Go on.**

 **ADAM: Is there a code for planet Earth?**

 **ROSE: Just dial.**

 _ **The phone rings in a house with a For Sale sign outside.**_

 **MACHINE: I'm sorry we're not in. Please leave a message. Thanks. Bye**

 **ADAM: It's er. Hi. It's me.**

 **INT. ADAM'S HOME**

 _ **A little dog runs in.**_

 **ADAM: I've sort of gone travelling. I met these people and we've gone travelling together.**

 **INT. FLOOR 139**

 **ADAM: But, er, I'm fine, and I'll call you later. Love you. Bye. That is so**

 _ **An alarm sounds. Everyone grabs their things and starts to leave. The vendors close up shop.**_

 **DOCTOR: Oi! Mutt and Jeff! Over here!**

"My bet's on Rose being Jeff." River announced.

"Are you saying I belong in an insane asylum?" Rose asked River.

"I'm saying you're definitely not Mutt."

 _ **Adam keeps Rose's phone.**_

"Oh, dear." River sighed. "It looks like he was attempting to think. That never ends well."

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **COMPUTER: Security check cleared.**

 **EDITOR: No, something's wrong. I can taste it. A tiny little shift in the information. Someone down there shouldn't be here. Double check. Triple check. Follow them.**

"'Someone?'" Sarah Jane inquired. "Only one?"

"Well," Jack replied, "the Doctor is the only non-human there, so it's possible that the different species is what goatee guy there is picking up on."

All the Doctors smiled at their friend's logical reasoning.

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 _ **Seven people are seated at an octagonal desk around a central chair with wires coming out of it. The Doctor, Rose and Adam stand to one side, observing.**_

 **CATHICA: Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection. How do you want it, by the book?**

 **DOCTOR: Right from scratch, thanks.**

 **CATHICA: Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot,- my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor Five Hundred praising me, and please do. Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy.**

 **SUKI: Actually, it's the law.**

 **CATHICA: Yes, thank you, Suki. Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go.**

Martha was a bit shocked at Cathica's behavior. "'Don't show off for the guests.' She's really desperate to get promoted, isn't she?"

 _ **Cathica settles into the central chair.**_

 **CATHICA: And engage safety**

 _ **The seven hold their hands over palm print on the table in front of them. Lights start to come on around the room. Cathica clicks her fingers and a spike opens in her forehead.**_

"That still doesn't sit comfortably with me." Clara squirmed a little in her seat.

"Good." Twelve reassured her.

 _ **The seven put their hands into the palm prints.**_

 **CATHICA: And three, two, and spike.**

 _ **A beam of light shines into her forehead.**_

 **DOCTOR: Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer.**

"That sounds an awful lot like humans turning into robots." Sarah Jane frowned.

"Oh, don't worry. Humans will get rid of the chips soon." Ten assured her.

 **ROSE: If it all goes through her, she must be a genius.**

 **DOCTOR: Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head'd blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets.**

Eleven scowled at how much his explanation reminded him of the DoctorDonna and what he had to do to her.

 **ROSE: So, what about all these people round the edge?**

 **DOCTOR: They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power.**

"That is such a bad system." Rory was nearly dumbfounded at how anyone could have thought such a thing was a good idea. "All the news comes from one place? How is anyone even supposed to know if what they're hearing is true when they've only got one source that could become corrupted?"

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **COMPUTER: Analysis confirmed. Security breach.**

 **EDITOR: I knew it. Which one? It's someone inside that room. Which one?**

"He seems a bit happy to know that there's a potential threat in his system." Donna observed.

"Maybe it gets boring up there." Rose suggested.

 **COMPUTER: Isolating breach.**

 **EDITOR: Come on, show me. Who is it?**

 **ROSE [on monitor]: You all right?**

 **ADAM [on monitor]: I can see her brain.**

"He's a bit slow, isn't he?" River remarked, unimpressed with Adam.

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 **ROSE: Do you want to get out?**

 **ADAM: No. No, this technology, it's amazing.**

 **DOCTOR: This technology's wrong.**

 **ROSE: Trouble?**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, yeah.**

"Ooh, now we're getting started." Jack grinned, leaning forward in his seat with his eyes glued to the television.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **EDITOR: That's it! Oh yes, she's the liar. Intercept and scan.**

 _ **The monitor zooms in on Suki.**_

The room was filled with exclamations of surprise and confusion.

"So, you were never noticed after all." River said to Eleven.

"And I made such an effort to get attention, too." Eleven said with sarcasm, faking disappointment.

"But seriously," Rose still remained a bit surprised, "Suki was the security breach? Why'd she lie?"

 **EDITOR: Gotcha.**

 _ **Suki pulls her hands away as if she has just received an electric shock. The other six lift their hands and the information beam shuts down. Cathica's chip closes.**_

 **CATHICA: Come off it, Suki. I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?**

 **SUKI: Sorry. It must've been a glitch.**

 **CATHICA: Oh.**

 **INT. LEVEL 500**

 **EDITOR: Her information's been tampered with. There's a second biography hidden underneath.**

"So, she's got a completely different life." Rose said.

 _ **Snarl from above.**_

 **EDITOR: Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir.**

" _That_ was not human." Martha stated.

"Well, you never know." Twelve said. "Human babies can sound very similar when they have strep throat."

"Are you suggesting," Clara began, her tone full of disbelief, "that there is a human infant with strep hanging from the ceiling who is in charge of a space station?"

"Weirder things have happened."

 **EDITOR: Yes, well, her data was encrypted, so there's no way we could have found her sooner.**

 _ **Snarl, growl.**_

 **EDITOR: I'm sorry, I. Yes, sorry, sir. Absolutely. Get her up here. Now.**

"He seems quite intimidated by that baby." Clara said bluntly, verging on monotonous.

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 **TANNOY: Promotion.**

 _ **A wall lights up with the word.**_

 **CATHICA: Come on. This is it. Come on. Oh God, make it me. Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name.**

"Floor Five Hundred seems like the only thing there is for people working on this station." Donna said. "It seems to be all anyone wants; to go to Floor Five Hundred."

"It's starting to feel like that's what they live for." Rory couldn't help but feel sorrow for those people.

 **TANNOY: Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor Five Hundred.**

"Hang on…" Clara pursed her lips before speaking again. "That ice-encrusted dump is Floor Five Hundred?"

"What do you mean?" Mickey asked.

"Goatee guy said to bring her up to him, and she's just gotten promoted to Floor Five Hundred. If those events aren't connected then neither are my bones."

Everyone aside from those who already knew what would happen to Suki looked back at the screen, feeling worried for the woman. Even though they didn't know who she truly was, she had seemed like a kind person, and they would always value kindness.

 **SUKI: I don't believe it. Floor Five Hundred.**

 **CATHICA: How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you.**

 **SUKI: I don't know. I just applied on the off chance and they've said yes.**

 **CATHICA: That's so not fair. I've been applying to Floor Five Hundred for three years.**

 **ROSE: What's Floor Five Hundred?**

 **DOCTOR: The walls are made of gold.**

"And for some reason," Amy said as she rolled her eyes, "nobody questions any further than that."

 **EXT. LIFT**

 **SUKI: Cathica, I'm going to miss you. Floor Five Hundred, thank you.**

 **DOCTOR: I didn't do anything.**

 **SUKI: Well, you're my lucky charm.**

 **DOCTOR: All right. I'll hug anyone.**

Clara gave a mix between a scoff and a laugh. "Those were the days."

Nine looked at her curiously. "What d'you mean?"

"Mr. Grinch over here," Clara gestured to Twelve "refuses to hug anyone."

"That's not entirely true!" Twelve protested.

"Oh, right, sorry. If you had thought for a long enough time that I was officially, never-going-to-be-seen-again dead, then you _perhaps_ would have given me a hug when you found out I wasn't."

The rest of the room was gawking.

"Are you serious?!" Amy outcried. "Faced with your death and he wouldn't give you a hug?"

"A lot of the time he would walk right past me; not even giving so much as a 'nice to see you outside of a casket.'"

The rest of the Doctors and companions reacted as though this were utterly scandalous behavior, and also wore a fair amount of confusion on their faces. The latter probably because Clara had been laughing the whole way through her descriptions of her Doctor's behavior.

"How can you think of that as funny?" Sarah Jane finally asked what was on everyone's minds as Clara was in the midst of describing to them (between giggles) one of the times her Doctor had brushed her aside after assuming her gone forever.

Clara immediately stopped laughing then. Still smiling, she looked up softly at her Doctor. He had been doing his best to ignore everyone around him; his body was turned about ninety degrees to his left to face the other three couches, but his head was turned as far around as he could comfortably hold it, supported by his left fist against his temples and his left elbow against the couch, leaving himself to examine the crevices displayed on the white wall in the back of the room.

"Because…" She began, but drifted off when Twelve turned his head back around to look at her. His expression was the definition of serene. She could almost see horses grazing and a school of fish swimming in his eyes. It took Clara merely two seconds of confusion to realize why she was seeing him wear such an expression while they were talking about his seemingly cruel actions. It was because they were talking about his seemingly cruel actions, only in a certain manner. They had easily taken up the conversation in a friendly, supportive manner. Hearing the entire room stick up for Clara when she was being treated unfairly. Hearing her laugh about his antics instead of becoming upset at them, because she trusted and knew that he meant no harm. He had allowed himself to relax, because he trusted and knew that Clara wouldn't let anyone who didn't understand call him cruel for his actions.

The Twelfth Doctor wasn't good with people - she knew this.

The Twelfth Doctor had a hard time with emotions in general - she knew this.

The Twelfth Doctor would never, on his own, admit the extent of his care for someone, even to himself, for fear that he would then have to deal with his own emotions - she knew this.

Clara spoke again.

"I know my Doctor." She continued to face the Twelfth as she said this, only turning around to the others after. "There's a lot of things he likes to keep below the surface."

She spared a glance at him and sighed.

"In fact, there's barely a single thing he _doesn't_ like to keep below the surface."

Clara looked at her feet for a few seconds, considering her next words. "He feels like he has to restrain himself; all of his emotions." Her voice quiets down, memories coming to mind that have even frightened her. "I've seen firsthand what happens when his emotions get the better of him."

She sharply lifts her head up, her voice returning to normal volume. "So, he represses them. And that sometimes means acting indifferent or like he doesn't care."

The group gave some quick looks at Twelve, who was sitting with one leg crossed over the other and with his arms crossed, seemingly ignoring them again. Admittedly, they had viewed him as cold when Clara began to tell them about his lack of affection, but they saw him in a different light now, realizing that his cold front was simply a way to keep his pent up feelings, well, pent up.

"Okay," Clara exhaled, "so now that we've established my Doctor as socially inept, I'd say we pick the episode back up."

Everyone nodded, settling into their seats and looking up at the TV again.

 **ROSE: Come on, it's not that bad.**

 **ADAM: What, with the head thing?**

 **ROSE: Yeah, well, she's closed it now!**

 **ADAM: Yeah, but. It's everything. It freaks me out. And I just need to. If I could just cool down. Sort of acclimatise.**

 **ROSE: How do you mean?**

 **ADAM: Maybe I could just go and sit on the observation deck. Would that be all right? Soak it in, you know. Pretend I'm a citizen of the year two hundred thousand.**

 **ROSE: Do you want me to come with you?**

 **ADAM: No, no, you stick with the Doctor. You'd rather be with him. It's going to take a better man than me to get between you two.**

"Damn right." Both Nine and Ten said.

Rose began to feel her cheeks heat up.

 **ADAM: Anyway, I'll be on the deck.**

 **ROSE: Here you go. Take the TARDIS key. You know, just in case it gets a bit too much.**

"Rose-" Nine began to warn before Rose cut in.

"I know, I know." She reiterated. "I shouldn't have given him the key, especially not without your permission."

 **ADAM: Yeah, like it's not weird in there.**

 **TANNOY: All staff are reminded that the sixteen forty break session has been shortened by ten minutes. Thank you.**

 _ **Adam leaves with the key, grinning to himself.**_

"Definitely shouldn't have." Nine stated bluntly, glaring angrily at Adam onscreen.

Rose sighed. She hoped he wouldn't end up reacting too badly when he saw what Adam did by the end of the episode.

 **SUKI: Oh, my God, I've got to go. I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry. Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!**

 _ **The lift door closes.**_

 **CATHICA: Good riddance.**

 **DOCTOR: You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs.**

 **CATHICA: We won't. Once you go to Floor Five Hundred you never come back.**

"How could they not think something's wrong with that place?" Mickey asked.

 _ **They walk back through the cafeteria.**_

 **DOCTOR: Have you ever been up there?**

 **CATHICA: I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few.**

"Then how would they know the walls are made of gold?" Clara asked.

"The most probable case is that they were told by management-" River answered.

"Or it's just some rumour that evolved into 'fact.'" Mickey finished.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 _ **The lift door opens onto an empty, frost covered area.**_

"The walls are not made of gold." Martha muttered.

 _ **Suki picks up her bag and walks out, and the lift closes behind her. She gets a torch from her bag and starts to explore. There are other footprints in the rime on the floor. Behind some shredded plastic curtains she finds a corpse with its forehead portal open and other skeletons seated around it, just like in the broadcast area down on floor 139.**_

"Okay, they're dead. How did they die?" Rory questioned.

"If I remember correctly," Ten said, "all will be explained."

 _ **A doorway opens and she walks into the light.**_

 **SUKI: Who're you?**

 **EDITOR: I'm the Editor.**

 **SUKI: What's happening? There are bodies out there. What's going on?**

 **EDITOR: While we're asking questions, would you please confirm your name.**

 _ **He snaps his fingers, and a holographic monitor appears in mid air.**_

 **SUKI [on monitor]: My name is Suki Macrae Cantrell. I was born one nine nine apostrophe eight nine in the Independent Republic of Morocco.**

 **EDITOR: Liar.**

 **SUKI [on monitor]: Hobbies include reading and archeology. I'm not an expert or anything, I just like digging.**

 **EDITOR: Liar.**

 **SUKI [on monitor]: I want to work for Satellite Five because my sister can't afford university, and the pay scheme is really good.**

 **EDITOR: Liar!**

"What, is the pay scheme actually not that good?" Rose asked jokingly.

"Wouldn't be surprised if they were lying to the people looking to work there as well." Jack answered with a serious tone.

 **EDITOR: Let's look at the facts, shall we?**

 _ **The image of a woman in camouflage fatigues and brandishing a weapon appears on the holo-monitor.**_

"Is that...Suki?" Rose asked.

 **EDITOR: Ah, hidden behind a genetic graft, but that's still you. Eva Saint Julienne, last surviving member of the Freedom Fifteen. Hmm, self declared anarchist, is that right?**

 _ **Eva points a handgun at the Editor.**_

 **EVA: Who controls Satellite Five?**

Rose and a few others were surprised when sweet and shy Suki pulled a gun on the Editor. Even Nine was a bit shocked. She hadn't seemed like the weapons type when they had known her.

But of course they hadn't really known her, and she wasn't really Suki. Apparently this was Eva, who was some sort of freedom fighter.

 **EDITOR: There's the truth!**

 **EVA: The Freedom Foundation has been monitoring Satellite Five's transmissions. We have absolute proof that the facts are being manipulated. You are lying to the people.**

"I told you, it happens way too easily." Rory sighed, annoyed that he was correct.

 **EDITOR: Ooo, I love it. Say it again.**

 **EVA: This whole system is corrupt. Who do you represent?**

 **EDITOR: I'm merely a humble slave. I answer to the Editor in Chief.**

"Slave?" Martha inquired. "I'm starting to think the baby thing might be right."

Clara put her head in her hands.

 **EVA: Who is he? Where is he?**

 **EDITOR: He's overseeing everything. Literally everything. If you don't mind, I'm going to have to refer this upwards.**

 _ **Click, and he points upwards. Something growls.**_

 **EVA: What is that?**

 **EDITOR: Your boss. This has always been your boss, since the day you were born.**

 _ **Eva fires her small pulse energy gun at whatever is coming down from the ceiling. She screams.**_

"She doesn't make it. Does she?" Amy frowns, as do many others, afraid they already know the answer.

 **INT. OBSERVATION DECK**

 _ **Adam puts his hand on a palm print on a vertical console.**_

 **ADAM: Give me access.**

 _ **The console lights up.**_

 **ADAM: Give me**

 _ **A mild electric shock.**_

 **ADAM: I can learn anything.**

"I'm more than mildly worried with what that little pipsqueak would do with that much power." Nine fumed.

 **He puts his hand back. Let's try computers. From the twenty first century to the present date, give me the history of the microprocessor.**

 _ **Data scrolls down the monitor.**_

 **ADAM: Oh my God.**

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 **CATHICA: Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?**

"Oh, no." Clara laughed. "Once the Doctor decides to pick on one person, they're not getting the slip 'till he's long gone."

 **DOCTOR: But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?**

"You know, your questions have a repetition and obliviousness where I'm surprised she hasn't found you out already." Donna said.

 _ **The Doctor sits in the broadcast chair.**_

 **CATHICA: I went to Floor Sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all. You're not management, are you.**

Jack whoops. "She's got it! She's _finally_ got it!"

 **DOCTOR: At last. She's clever.**

Clara and River laughed lightly at that.

 **CATHICA: Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything.**

"These people…" Clara shook her head. "They're not even curious. They don't ask any questions. Their brains must be starved with all the boredom they're feeding 'em."

 **DOCTOR: Don't you even ask?**

 **CATHICA: Well, why would I?**

Everyone in the room groaned or facepalmed or put their head in their hands.

 _Why would you?_ Maybe because it's supposed to be human nature?

 **DOCTOR: You're a journalist. Why's all the crew human?**

 **CATHICA: What's that got to do with anything?**

 **DOCTOR: There's no aliens on board. Why?**

 **CATHICA: I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything.**

 **DOCTOR: Then where are they?**

 **CATHICA: I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats.**

 **DOCTOR: What threats?**

 **CATHICA: I don't know all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see. Just lots of little reasons, that's all.**

 **DOCTOR: Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice.**

 **CATHICA: Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything.**

"Unless Satellite Five is the conspiracy." Jack mumbled.

 **DOCTOR: I can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology.**

 **CATHICA: It's cutting edge.**

 **DOCTOR: It's backwards. There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago.**

Sarah Jane nodded, happy that Nine agreed with her.

 **ROSE: So, what do you think's going on?**

 **DOCTOR: It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. It's the way people think. The great and bountiful Human Empire's stunted. Something's holding it back.**

 **CATHICA: And how would you know?**

 **DOCTOR: Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?**

 **CATHICA: Ninety one years ago.**

"Wow, what a mighty fine coincidence!" Jack's sarcasm went through the roof.

 **INT. OBSERVATION DECK**

 _ **Adam phones home again.**_

 **ADAM: Mum, Dad, keep this message, okay?**

"Okay," Amy firmly decided, "he's up to no good."

 **INT. ADAM'S HOME**

 **ADAM [OC]: Whatever you do, don't erase it. Save it. You got that?**

 **INT. OBSERVATION DECK**

 **ADAM: The microprocessor became**

 **INT. ADAM'S HOME**

 **ADAM [OC]: Redundant in the year two thousand nineteen, replaced**

 **INT. OBSERVATION DECK**

 **ADAM: By a system called SMT. That's Single Molecule Transcription**

Everyone gaped at Adam. What in the name of sanity did he think he was doing?! Did he have any idea of how dangerous giving out information from the future could be?!

 _ **The display is replaced by a message - Floor 16.**_

 **ADAM: No, no, no, no, no! What're you doing? Come back! Why are you doing that? What's Floor Sixteen? What's down there?**

"Didn't Cathica say that's where she got her head done?" Rory asked slowly.

Nobody voiced it, but everyone in the room was thinking the same thing. Adam was about to do something incredibly stupid.

 **INT. FLOOR 16**

 _ **The lift doors open to reveal Adam. He walks to the one desk where there isn't a conversation going on.**_

 **ADAM: Sorry, er, floor sixteen, that's, er. What do you cover?**

 **NURSE: Medical non-emergency.**

 **ADAM: Right. Yeah, wrong floor. I'm having technical difficulties. My screen keeps freezing, blocking me out.**

 **NURSE: No, that's medical. There must be something wrong with your chip.**

 **ADAM: Yes. Yeah, of course, yeah. I haven't got one.**

 **NURSE: No wonder you can't get a screen to work. What are you, a student?**

 **ADAM: Yes. Yeah, I'm er, I'm on a research project from the University of Mars.**

"Not very creative," Ten muttered, "but it works."

 **NURSE: The Martian boondocks. Typical.**

 **ADAM: Yeah.**

 **NURSE: Well, you still need chipping.**

 **ADAM: So, does that mean like brain surgery?**

 **NURSE: That's an old fashioned phrase, but it's the same thing, yes.**

 **ADAM: Oh. Okay, never mind. But if I get a chip that means I could use any computer.**

 **NURSE: Absolutely. You'll have to pay for it. They've stopped subsidising.**

 **ADAM: Oh! Right. Sorry. Wasting your time. Thanks.**

 _ **Adam walks away, then goes back.**_

 **ADAM: Hold on. Can I use this?**

 _ **He holds up the card from the cashpoint.**_

 **NURSE: That'll do nicely.**

Nine had been watching the scene, silently fuming over what an idiot Adam was, but now sighed and spoke aloud. "Adam, Adam, Adam. When I told you to 'open your mind' I did not mean it literally."

Rose repressed a smile.

 **INT. OPERATING ROOM**

 _ **Adam is sitting in an operating chair. The nurse puts a circular device above his head.**_

 **NURSE: It all comes down to two basic types. Type one, the head chip inserted into the back of the skull, one hundred credits. There's the chip. Tiny. Invisible. No scarring. Type two is the full info-spike.**

 **ADAM: Oh, that's the**

 _ **He points to his forehead.**_

 **ADAM: Thing.**

 **NURSE: That's the one. It does cost ten thousand.**

 **ADAM: Oh, well, I, er, I couldn't afford it then.**

 **NURSE: Not at all. It turns out you've got unlimited credit.**

River glared daggers at the Doctor. "Why on Earth did you think that was a good idea?"

"I didn't know he was that much of an idiot, okay?" Eleven defended.

 **ADAM: No, but I couldn't have it done, I mean, that's got to hurt, hasn't it?**

 **NURSE: Painless. Contractual guarantee.**

 **ADAM: No, my mate's waiting upstairs, I can't have major surgery.**

 **NURSE: It takes ten minutes. That sort of money buys a very fast pico surgeon.**

 **ADAM: No, but I, I couldn't. No, no, it's**

 **NURSE: Type one, you can interface with a simple computer. Type two, you are the computer. You can transmit any piece of information from the archive of Satellite Five, which is just about the entire history of the human race. Now, which one's it going to be?**

 **EXT. COMPUTER CUPBOARD**

 _ **The Doctor is using his sonic screwdriver on a pair of double doors.**_

 **CATHICA: We are so going to get in trouble. You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off.**

 **DOCTOR: Rose, tell her to button it.**

"What am I," Rose retorted, "your servant?"

 **CATHICA: You can't just vandalise the place. Someone's going to notice!**

 _ **The Doctor pulls the door open.**_

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 _ **The Editor is watching all this on the monitor.**_

 **EDITOR: I don't understand. We did a full security scan. That man was there when we found Suki Macrae Cantrell. There were no indications about him. And yet here he is-**

 _ **The Editor crouches beside a dead Eva, who has become a computer operator.**_

"Oh, God." Sarah Jane looked on with pity. "So that's what happens when someone gets promoted."

"All those other people sitting there," Martha joined in, "they must've been promoted too."

 **EDITOR: -clearly acting outside the parameters. Fascinating.**

"He almost loves trouble as much as you do." Donna smirked towards Ten.

 _ **Snarl, growl.**_

 **EDITOR: Yes, sir. Absolutely. At once. Check him. Double check him. Triple check him. Quadruple.**

"Quadruple, eh?" Jack teased. "You're really getting the special treatment."

 _ **The creature makes noises.**_

 **EXT. COMPUTER CUPBOARD**

 _ **The Doctor is having fun making things go sput amongst the mare's nest of wiring.**_

 **CATHICA: This is nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work.**

 **DOCTOR: Go on, then. See you!**

 **CATHICA: I can't just leave you, can I!**

"Funny, isn't it?" Twelve grinned.

 **ROSE: If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling. What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?**

 **CATHICA: I don't know. We keep asking. Something to do with the turbine.**

 **DOCTOR (mocking): Something to do with the turbine.**

Everyone, including the Doctors themselves, laughed at the Doctor's childlike behavior.

 **CATHICA: Well, I don't know!**

 **DOCTOR: Exactly. I give up on you, Cathica. Now, Rose. Look at Rose. Rose is asking the right kind of question.**

 **ROSE: Oh, thank you.**

 **DOCTOR: Why is it so hot?**

"Is that really the main problem here?" Amy questioned.

"Plumbing's very important." Rose and Ten answered at the same time, quoting what Nine was about to say.

 **CATHICA: One minutes you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!**

 **DOCTOR: Well, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing's very important.**

Amy gave a snort of laughter.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **COMPUTER: Security scan complete.**

 **EDITOR: Well, who is he?**

 **COMPUTER: He is no one.**

 **EDITOR: What does that mean?**

"He is Nobody. Trickster and blinder of Polyphemus." Amy declared with a straight face.

"Ah, good ol' Odysseus." Eleven smiled. "I helped him make a wooden horse once."

"Of course that was you." Clara sighed, barely even surprised that the Trojan Horse was the Doctor's doing.

 **COMPUTER: He is no one.**

 **EDITOR: What, you mean he has a fake ID?**

 **COMPUTER: He has no identification.**

 **EDITOR: But everyone's registered. We have a census for the entire Empire.**

 **COMPUTER: He is no one.**

 **EDITOR: What, he doesn't exist? Not anywhere?**

"I tried not existing once." Eleven announced, then scrunched up his nose. "It wasn't fun. I wouldn't recommend it."

 **COMPUTER: He is no one.**

 **EDITOR: What about the blonde?**

 **COMPUTER: She is no one.**

"That's us." Rose grinned at Nine. "The Nobodies from Nowhere."

Nine smiled back at her.

 **EDITOR: Both of them? Well, we all know what happens to non-entities. They get promoted. Bring them up.**

 **EXT. COMPUTER CUPBOARD**

 _ **The Doctor produces a monitor with a schematic on it.**_

 **DOCTOR: Here we go. Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout.**

 **CATHICA: This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange and you're looking at pipes?**

 **DOCTOR: But there's something wrong.**

 **CATHICA: I suppose.**

 **ROSE: Why, what is it?**

 **CATHICA: The ventilation system. Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out channelling massive amounts of heat down.**

 **DOCTOR: All the way from the top.**

 **ROSE: Floor Five Hundred.**

 **DOCTOR: Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat.**

 **ROSE: Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?**

 **CATHICA: You can't. You need a key.**

"Unless you're the Doctor." Rose said.

 **DOCTOR: Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here. Here we go. Override two one five point nine.**

 _ **The monitor shows 215.9976/31**_

 **CATHICA: How come it's given you the code?**

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **DOCTOR [on monitor]: Someone up there likes me.**

 **INT. OPERATING ROOM**

 **NURSE: I told you it was painless. No scarring, you see? Perfect success.**

 **ADAM: How do I activate it?**

 **NURSE: It's a personal choice. Some people whistle. I know one man who triggers it with O, Danny Boy. But you're set on default for now. That's a click of the fingers.**

 **ADAM: So you mean, I just**

 **NURSE: Click.**

"I still can't believe he went and did that." Donna muttered.

 **EXT. LIFT**

 **ROSE: Come on. Come with us.**

 **CATHICA: No way.**

 **DOCTOR: Bye!**

A few people gave a short laugh. He seemed awfully happy to be rid of Cathica.

 **CATHICA: Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me.**

 _ **Cathica leaves.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like it's just you and me.**

 **ROSE: Yeah.**

 **DOCTOR: Good.**

 **ROSE: Yep.**

 _ **Nine grabs Rose's hand.**_

Many people in the room smile at that.

 **INT. OPERATING ROOM**

 _ **Adam clicks his fingers and the chip in his forehead opens to reveal his brain. He clicks it shuts again.**_

"Hm." River examined. "Looks healthy."

"What were you expecting?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Well, with all the stupid decisions he's made so far, I suppose I expected it to be rotting." River remarked.

There were a few unsuccessful attempts at holding back laughter.

 **ADAM: Oh, my God. I'm going to be sick.**

 _ **He leans forward and retches, then pulls a pale ice cube out of his mouth.**_

Everyone just stared, waiting for the explanation.

 **NURSE: Special offer. We installed the vomitomatic at the same time. Nano-termites have been placed in the lining of your throat. In the event of sickness, they freeze the waste.**

"That seems practically inhuman." Clara said.

"And the big doors in people's heads aren't?" Twelve mentioned.

Clara shut her mouth after that, feeling ridiculous for missing such a thing.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **DOCTOR: The walls are not made of gold. You should go back downstairs.**

All the companions began laughing at that.

"You know, it's pretty hypocritical of you when you say that." Clara told the Doctors. "I mean, you-" she gestured to Eleven "-told me on our first trip, 'we don't walk away,' and yet there are so many times you tell us to 'jump ship.'"

The Doctors contemplated on this with difficulty. They wanted to keep their companions safe and out of harm's way, but they also didn't want them to run away when they were needed to help; even though helping sometimes meant getting hurt.

 **ROSE: Tough.**

The companions smiled with the knowledge that Rose wasn't the type to let the Doctor boss her around.

 _ **They find the Editor and his staff.**_

 **EDITOR: I started without you. This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you two, you don't exist. Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?**

 **ROSE: Suki. Suki!**

 _ **Rose runs over to the dead computer operator furthest away.**_

 **ROSE: Hello? Can you hear me? Suki? What have you done to her?**

 **DOCTOR: I think she's dead.**

 **ROSE: She's working.**

 **DOCTOR: They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets.**

"Like zombies." Sarah Jane added.

"That would make them like Clara." Martha said.

Jack leaned far forward in his seat to look at Clara, which she noticed.

"What are you doing?" Clara asked.

"Making sure you're not choking." Jack answered slyly.

Clara glared daggers at him.

 **EDITOR: Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?**

 **DOCTOR: It doesn't matter, because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on.**

 _ **Eva grabs Rose's arm. Two other operators grab the Doctor.**_

 **EDITOR: Tell me who you are.**

 **DOCTOR: Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I.**

 **EDITOR: Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise.**

"Ooh, are we going to get to see what's on the ceiling now?" Amy asked, leaning forward.

"That sounds ridiculous out of context." Rory noted.

 **DOCTOR: And who's that?**

 **EDITOR: It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live.**

 _ **Growl, snarl.**_

 **EDITOR: Yeah. Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are** _ **allowed**_ **to live by kind permission of my client.**

 _ **Who we finally see is a giant lump hanging from the ceiling, with a very nasty set of teeth in a mouth on the end of a pseudopod.**_

"I don't know what I was expecting." Mickey said.

"I mean, it's on the ceiling, so that's really the only type of thing it could have been, actually." Jack figured.

 **ROSE: What is that?**

 **DOCTOR: You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?**

 **EDITOR: That thing, as you put it, is in charge of the human race. For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. I call him Max.**

 _ **The Doctor smiles at the Editor sarcastically and nods.**_

Amy thought about it for a moment. "That is one way to make the enemy seem a little less terrifying."

 _ **Down on Floor 139 Adam avoids Cathica as she goes to take another look at the schematic that the Doctor called up. Then she goes to the lift and punches in the code for Floor 500.**_

"Couldn't resist, could she?" River remarked.

"Human curiosity always wins out in the end." Nine said. "No matter how much it's repressed."

 _ **Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose have been placed in hefty sets of manacles.**_

 **EDITOR: Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote.**

 **ROSE: So all the people on Earth are like, slaves.**

 **EDITOR: Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?**

 **DOCTOR: Yes.**

Many people said "yes" along with the Doctor on the screen.

 **EDITOR: Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?**

 **DOCTOR: Yes.**

 **EDITOR: You're no fun.**

 **DOCTOR: Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am.**

Jack narrowed his eyes critically. "I don't think the tough talk really works with you, Doc."

 **EDITOR: Oh, he's tough, isn't he. But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit.**

"Unless I'm missing something, I don't think there's anything to admire about it." Donna muttered.

Everyone agreed with her.

 **ROSE: You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed.**

 **EDITOR: From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it.**

"By 'crushing their doubt' I assume he means killing them." Martha said.

"And he looks way too happy about it." Jack added.

 _ **Cathica arrives on Floor 500. Adam goes to the broadcast room on 139.**_

 **EDITOR: Then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual, when of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing.**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose spot Cathica behind the Editor's back.**_

 **ROSE: What about you? You're not a Jagra..uh..belly**

"You don't need to say anything, Jack. Thank you very much." Rose said before he could speak, her eyes never leaving the screen.

 **DOCTOR: Jagrafess.**

 **ROSE: Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human.**

 **EDITOR: Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well.**

Clara groaned and facepalmed using both hands.

"The greed never ends!" Twelve announced dramatically.

 **ROSE: But you couldn't have done this all on your own.**

 **EDITOR: No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to, um, install himself.**

 **DOCTOR: No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?**

 **EDITOR: Three thousand years.**

 **DOCTOR: That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system.**

 **INT. ADAM'S HOME**

 _ **Adam settles in the broadcast chair and opens his chip, then phones home.**_

 **ADAM [OC]: It's me again. Don't wipe this message. It's just going to sound like white noise, but save it because I can-**

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 **ADAM: -translate it, okay? Three, two, one and spike.**

 _ **Information beams into Adam.**_

No one even bothered talking about Adam anymore. They just sat there, aggressively shouting at him in their heads.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **EDITOR: But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?**

 _ **The Editor snaps his fingers and shocks surge throughout the manacles.**_

Multiple of the companions had to be pulled backwards after practically leaping forward as if to strangle the Editor through the TV.

 _ **Back in Adam's home, the little dog watches energy encircling the telephone answering machine.**_

 **DOCTOR: Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering.**

 **EDITOR: Tell me who you are!**

 **DOCTOR: I just said!**

 **EDITOR: Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly-**

 _ **He stops. The Jagrafess growls.**_

 **EDITOR: Time Lord.**

 **DOCTOR: What?**

 **EDITOR: Oh, yes. The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine. Oh, with his little human girl from long ago.**

 **DOCTOR: You don't know what you're talking about.**

 **EDITOR: Time travel.**

 **INT. NEWSROOM**

 _ **Adam screams as information is sucked out of his brain.**_

"That rascal almost got the two of you killed." River growled.

"He almost got way more than just us killed." Ten told her.

She looked at him questioningly, and he indicated to her to keep watching.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **DOCTOR: Someone's been telling you lies.**

 **EDITOR: Young master Adam Mitchell?**

 _ **The Editor calls up the holo-monitor showing Adam in the broadcast chair.**_

 **ROSE: Oh, my God. His head!**

 **DOCTOR: What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything.**

 **EDITOR: And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T-A-R-D-I-S. TARDIS.**

 **DOCTOR: Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first.**

 **EDITOR: Die all you like. I don't need you. I've got the key.**

 _ **The TARDIS key rises from Adam's pocket.**_

"There's no telling what the Editor would've done with the TARDIS on his hands. Even if he weren't able to figure out how to fly it, simply the things kept in there could be enough to slaughter possibly the entire universe."

Clara gulped, thinking back to the time a future her had gotten burned into a zombie-creature. She'd seen a few of the terrifying dangers kept aboard the Doctor's ship back then, and she knew that it was sure to hold many more.

 **DOCTOR: You and your boyfriends!**

"Hey!" Mickey called out. "I actually _didn't_ almost destroy the universe, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, that..may have been a bit uncalled for." Eleven apologized. "Sorry."

Mickey was a bit surprised, but managed a forgiving smile at Eleven. He supposed he and the Doctor did part on good terms, in the end.

 **EDITOR: Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing.**

"This episode is one big explanation of why you don't hand out time travel to people that don't understand the dangers of it." Twelve said, shaking his head.

 **DOCTOR: And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold.**

 _ **The Jagrafess snarls, and Cathica leaves.**_

"Hmm...where's she going?" Martha wondered.

 **INT. FLOOR 500 NEWSROOM**

 _ **Cathica throws the corpse off the broadcast chair and sits down.**_

 **CATHICA: Disengage safety.**

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **EDITOR: What's happening?**

 **INT. FLOOR 500 NEWSROOM**

 **CATHICA: Maximum access. Override Floor One Three Nine.**

 _ **Adam is disconnected. The TARDIS key falls to the floor.**_

Everyone grinned with pride at Cathica. She went from being one of the "human slaves" to saving the day.

 **CATHICA: And spike!**

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 **EDITOR: Someone's disengaged the safety. Who's that?**

 _ **He calls the image up on the holo-monitor.**_

 **ROSE: It's Cathica.**

 **DOCTOR: And she's thinking. She's using what she knows.**

 **EDITOR: Terminate her access.**

 **DOCTOR: Everything I told her about Satellite Five. The pipes, the filters, she's reversing it. Look at that.**

 _ **The icicles are starting to melt.**_

 **DOCTOR: It's getting hot.**

 **EDITOR[to Eva]: I said, terminate. Burn out her mind.**

 **INT. FLOOR 500 NEWSROOM**

 **CATHICA: Oh no, you don't. You should have promoted me years back.**

They all agreed. Cathica really had been hardworking and loyal to her job. She deserved a real promotion.

 **INT. FLOOR 500**

 _ **The consoles explode and the dead operators collapse. Alarms sound in the rest of Satellite Five and people panic. Rose gets out of her manacles.**_

 **DOCTOR: She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano.**

 **EDITOR: Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea.**

"It's really sad that he's able to say that." Donna said, ashamed at what the human race had become.

 _ **The Editor takes Eva's seat while Rose tries to free the Doctor. She gets the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.**_

 **ROSE: What do I do?**

 **DOCTOR: Flick the switch! Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!**

 _ **Finally free, the Doctor and Rose leave.**_

 **EDITOR: Actually, sir, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll resign. Bye, then!**

 _ **Eva grabs his ankle and he falls.**_

"Isn't she supposed to be dead?" Sarah Jane asked, confused.

"Must've been an imprint of her consciousness left in the chip." Nine answered.

 **EDITOR: Let go of me!**

 _ **The Doctor and Rose run for the broadcast as chunks of ice fall from the ceiling, the satellite shudders and the Jagrafess growls.**_

 **EDITOR: Let go of me! Let go of me!**

 _ **The Jagrafess explodes. The Doctor snaps his fingers and closes Cathica's chip.**_

 **INT. FLOOR 139**

 _ **As dawn rises over Earth, the people on Floor 139 are helping the injured.**_

 **DOCTOR: We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage.**

Twelve frowned at his past self's words, remembering what Ashildr had told him about the people he left behind.

 **CATHICA: You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me.**

 **DOCTOR: Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate. All back to normal.**

 **CATHICA: What about your friend?**

 **DOCTOR: He's not my friend.**

 _ **The Doctor stands up and walks over to Adam, who is standing beside the TARDIS.**_

Everyone paid close attention, knowing that Adam was about to get what's been coming to him.

 **ROSE[to the Doctor as he walks past]: Now, don't-**

 _ **The Doctor ignores her and keeps walking.**_

 **ADAM: I'm all right now. Much better. And I've got the key. Look, it's. It all worked out for the best, didn't it? You know, it's not actually my fault, because you were in charge.**

 _ **The Doctor pushes Adam into the TARDIS.**_

Donna scoffed. "Ridiculous. He can't even take responsibility for his own actions."

 **INT. ADAM'S HOME**

 _ **And out of the TARDIS.**_

 **ADAM: It's my house. I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home! Blimey. I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock.**

"He did have that sort of face, didn't he?" Clara said.

"Says the girl who's accustomed to attack eyebrows." Twelve added.

 **DOCTOR: Is there something else you want to tell me?**

 **ADAM: No. What do you mean?**

 _ **The Doctor picks up the answering machine.**_

 **DOCTOR: The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could've changed the world.**

 _ **The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the telephone and it explodes.**_

 **DOCTOR: That's it, then. See you.**

 **ADAM: How do you mean, see you?**

 **DOCTOR: As in goodbye.**

 **ADAM: But what about me? You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two. My head opens.**

 **DOCTOR: What, like this?**

 _ **The Doctor clicks his fingers.**_

The room snickers.

 **ADAM: Don't.**

 _ **He closes it.**_

 **DOCTOR: Don't do what?**

 _ **Open.**_

Amusement grows throughout everyone in the room.

 **ADAM: Stop it!**

 _ **Close.**_

 **ROSE: All right now, Doctor, that's enough. Stop it.**

 **ADAM: Thank you.**

 _ **Rose clicks her fingers.**_

 **ADAM: Oi!**

"Traitor!" Jack laughs.

"Oh, please." Rose smiled. "You would've done the same."

 **ROSE: Sorry, I couldn't resist.**

 _ **Adam closes it again.**_

 **DOCTOR: The whole of history could have changed because of you.**

 **ADAM: I just wanted to help.**

 **DOCTOR: You were helping yourself.**

 **ADAM: And I'm sorry. I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this.**

 **DOCTOR: Yes I can. 'Cause if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck.**

Clara was reminded of what the Doctor had said to her before they were kidnapped by vikings. He wasn't the police. It wasn't his job to right every wrong.

 **ADAM: But I want to come with you.**

 **DOCTOR: I only take the best. I've got Rose.**

All the companions smiled at that.

"The best, huh?"

"Mickey, stop." Ten told him, afraid of letting him get any further.

"You just admitted I'm one of the best."

"Rickey-" Nine started getting involved as well.

"You can't call me Rickey after that."

Nine and Ten groaned, while everyone else continued to smile humorously.

 _ **Adam's mum comes in the front door.**_

 **ADAM: Rose, Rose. Oh, my God.**

 **MUM [OC]: Who's that? Jeff, is that you?**

 **ADAM: It's me, mum. Don't come in. Wait there a minute.**

 **MUM [OC]: Oh, my Lord. You never told me you were coming home! Hold on, I'll just take my coat off. You should've told me you were coming home. I would've got your favourite tea in.**

 **ADAM: Rose, take me with you.**

 _ **The TARDIS engine starts up. Rose goes inside and it dematerializes.**_

 **MUM [OC]: Hey, what's that noise? Have you left the back door open? Blimey, there's a draft.**

 _ **She enters the front room.**_

 **MUM: What a surprise. Oh, let me look at you. Oh, six months. It's like I saw you yesterday. Isn't it funny? The time goes by like that.**

 _ **She clicks her fingers. Oops.**_

"Ah." Eleven seemed unsurprised. "I wonder if he managed to convince her to keep it a secret."

"For his own sake, he better have." Amy said.

 **NEXT TIME**

 **INT. TARDIS**

 **DOCTOR: Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for.**

 **ROSE: The day my father died.**

"Why would you want to go there?" Mickey asked Rose, confused.

Rose answered with a heavy voice. "I'd only ever heard my mum talk about it. I suppose I was just curious, that's all."

 **WATERLEY STREET**

 **ROSE: I thought it'd be all grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day.**

Clara's mind was brought back to Danny's death, and how ordinary it was. The sun was shining, everyone was going about their day-to-day business, and he was crossing the road.

 **JORDAN ROAD**

 _ **Pete gets out of his car.**_

 **ROSE: Oh, God. This is it.**

 _ **The Doctor takes Rose's hand.**_

 **ROSE: He can't die on his own.**

 _ **A beige car squeals as the driver tries to hit the breaks and covers his face with his arm. A vase drops to the ground and smashes into pieces. The car drives off and then disappears with a yellow flash. Pete lies on his back in the street, the broken vase next to him.**_

Everyone registered the car's disappearance as unusual, but couldn't bring themselves to say anything about it with the somber atmosphere settling around witnessing Rose's father's death.

 **ROSE: Can I try again?**

 _ **Two sets of the Doctor and Rose stand on Jordan Road, the one from the future at a corner behind the one from the past.**_

"That is nothing if not dangerous." River told the Doctor disapprovingly.

"If I had a better idea I would have done it." Eleven said back.

 **PAST ROSE: Oh, God. This is it.**

 _ **Rose runs past their past selves-**_

 **DOCTOR: Rose, no!**

"You…" Amy began, before realizing she had nothing to say other than, "...oh my God."

"Not my proudest moment." Rose admitted.

 _ **-and drags Pete out of the path of the incoming car.**_

Nine was looking at the screen furiously, and Rose could feel it from where she was sitting, next to him. She made sure to keep her line of sight away from him.

 **EXT. CHURCH**

 _ **A reaper clings to the window of a church.**_

"And that is..?" Martha asked.

"A reaper." Ten replied grimly. "You'll find out more later."

 **JORDAN ROAD**

 _ **The past Rose and Doctor look at each other, then disappear in a yellow light.**_

 **DOCTOR: I did it again.**

 **INT. TYLER'S FLAT**

 **DOCTOR [CONT'D]: I picked another stupid ape.**

Donna, Amy, and Clara all slapped their Doctors with pillows.

 **ROSE: But it's not like I've changed history.**

 **PETE'S CAR**

 _ **Pete sees the car that should have killed him driving behind him in the rearview mirror.**_

 **DOCTOR: Rose, there's a man alive in the world**

 **INT. TYLER'S FLAT**

 **DOCTOR [CONT'D]: who wasn't alive before. The whole world's different because he's alive.**

Eleven knew there were going to be questions about that statement, so he decided to speak up first. "Imagine how having her dad alive would've affected Rose. She might've felt better about her own life and not felt the need to come with me. She might've taken up a different job with her dad's influence and not have even met me. She might possibly not even have lived in the Powell Estate. There's an infinite amount of possibilities as to what could have happened, many of them leading to a whole new world. And Jack, I can see you over there getting ready to sing 'A Whole New World' from _Aladdin_. Don't."

Everyone turned to Jack, who had his arm held up in a theatrical manner and his mouth open. He pouted and sat back into his seat.

 **EXT. CHURCH**

 _ **We see from the reaper's eyes with their blood-red eyesight, then from the regular point of view as they fly down and pounce on people.**_

 **INT. CHURCH**

 **DOCTOR: Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilize the wound.**

 **EXT. CHURCH**

 _ **Rose stands on the sidewalk and the Doctor comes up to her, running.**_

 **DOCTOR: Rose! Get in the church!**

 _ **A reaper appears above Rose and she screams.**_

Jack sighed. "This doesn't look happy."

"Were there any that looked happy?" Mickey asked.

"Please tell me one of them is just going to be filled with jokes and sarcasm." Rory hoped.

"Nice try, Mr. Pond, but that's just being unrealistic." Amy patted her husband on the back.

"That's depressing." Eleven mentioned.

"Well, it is your life they're showing, sweetie." River said to him.

"Oh, can we please stop talking about how full of crap my life is?" Ten pleaded with his hand running through his hair.

"Yeah, once the show does." Mickey replied.

"Well then," Ten declared, gesturing at the television, "let's get on with it."

Everyone settled back, and the next episode began.

 **Well, this chapter sure did have a lot of emotions, didn't it? I know, I didn't expect them either. Okay but that part with Clara choking literally just happened out of nowhere. As well as all of the other very long reactions. I was writing and all of a sudden that was on the page. But all in all this chapter was very Clara. There was lots of Clara, I will admit. I did not expect that to happen. I'm kind of annoyed at myself, really, because I want to give all the characters equal attention as much as I can, but I can never tell for certain what is going to end up on the page. So there'll maybe be other chapters in this story where one character is paid more attention to for an episode, but I hope to not do that often. To be honest, I'm not very happy with this chapter. It feels very messy. I think it's just a case of getting back into it, though.**


End file.
